| Author | Message | ||
     beckyz Citizen Username: Beckyz Post Number: 4 Registered: 1-2006 |
Does Maplewood have a Shade Tree Commission or Advisory Committee? I find it upsetting that a town named for a tree should replace so many old, beautiful trees with young, scrawny ones. The trees along Springfield Avenue distinguished Maplewood from its neighbors in such a beautiful and positive way. And please don't tell me about powerline interference; they have been working on the utility pole outside of Orange Mattress for 2 weeks now and trees were not the cause of that outage. | ||
| Lydia Supporter Username: Lydial Post Number: 2105 Registered: 5-2001 |
I agree - and the beautiful big old trees in Memorial park are in desperate need of some professional TLC. Most of the canopies need trimming, some of the huge (200+ years old) are so thick at the top I suspect we'll see more of them fall with storm season and winter around the corner. Maybe above-and-beyond tree care (yearly kelp treatments, occasional canopy trimming) could be funded by the Open space trust fund? I mentioned it around 6 months ago to 2 TC members who seemed less than concerned about the trees + open space fund - actually they never got back to me at all.  | ||
| eb1154 Citizen Username: Eb1154 Post Number: 531 Registered: 5-2001 |
The TC is currently considering a tree ordinance to proctect the town's beauty. The trees on SA that have come down will be replaced. In fact, just last year there were about 40 new trees planted through a grant. If you have any questions regarding the township trees you can call Todd Lamm @973-762-1175 he is the Public Works Tree Supervisor. Eric | ||
| Scully Citizen Username: Scully Post Number: 898 Registered: 8-2005 |
The point wasn't that the trees weren't being replaced. The point was that large, beautiful, majestic mature trees were being replaced by scrawney saplings. Why? Were they ALL diseased (poor care), or was it wire issues? | ||
| Lydia Supporter Username: Lydial Post Number: 2106 Registered: 5-2001 |
Eb1154 - I think it's great that new trees are being planted. My issue is what are we doing to preserve the old trees? When is the last time (if ever) that Maplewood's grand old trees received a good root feeding or soil aeration? The trees in our parks have much more stress than a typical tree on a lawn - dogs peeing, people trampling, heavy trucks on their roots, etc.. As far as I see, they get a basic low-branch pruning and that's it. With warmer winters and fewer hard freezes, the trees are more vulnerable to insects and molds than ever before. If Maplewood wants to keep it's old trees, I really think we have to make disease/natural disaster prevention a priority. | ||
| Eponymous Citizen Username: Eponymous Post Number: 218 Registered: 6-2004 |
beckyz, What does the powerline damage on SA have to do with this discussion? Just because one spot was damaged by lightning doesn't mean that taller trees aren't a threat to power (and phone and cable) lines too. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 7999 Registered: 5-2001 |
The large old trees are being replaced by young trees because it is extremely difficult if not impossible to transplant a tree the size of one of our mature oaks when the old oak dies. In time, the young trees will become old trees and the tradition of lovely shady streets will be continued. Power lines are a problem because mature trees sometimes lose very large limbs (like the one that came crashing down on Courter Avenue last Friday) which can take power lines along with them. (This did not happen with the Courter Avenue tree but some neighbors still lost power while the tree was being examined and growth around the line was trimmed.) This is why we often see a utility company bucket truck out and about pruning some of our large old trees. Hopefully, this and other trees similarly situated can receive the treatment they need before they have to be taken down due to the danger to person and property they present once they die. I agree with Lydia that our older trees do need some attention/care. Over the weekend I e-mailed Public Works about a town tree adjacent to my property which is in such stress that there is no growth on the upper end of any of the tree's limbs and several of the limbs (including a large thick one extending over a heavily trafficked street) have no growth on them at all. This is one of the 200+ year old oaks refered to by an above poster. | ||
| mrmaplewood Citizen Username: Mrmaplewood Post Number: 381 Registered: 5-2001 |
So who's tree gets attention? There the workers were this morning, about 8 of them trimming the tree in front of the police station. Aren't these the same people who stripped a tree to the bare trunk on Dunnell last week and left it standing? Surely they mean to take the rest of it down, but why the delay? Oh, power lines I guess will be the answer. | ||
| beckyz Citizen Username: Beckyz Post Number: 5 Registered: 1-2006 |
Eponymous - powerlines are a convenient excuse for cutting down rather than maintaining old shade trees. You can trim a tree around a powerline in most cases. I just wanted to put that out there because my biggest concern are the trees removed from Springfield Avenue. They are not removed due to old oak dying, Lydia - they are replaced because of sidewalk renovation and financial decisions. It IS possible to work around at least SOME of the old trees. The main reason I posted this topic was to see how much concern there was for keeping the classic look of Maplewood's streets, and if any TC members were "listening." | ||
| toad Citizen Username: Toad Post Number: 146 Registered: 6-2001 |
There were six town workers at the police station this morning. Four men and their foreman were removing the dying Red Oak in front of the building. Two men were pruning the shrubbery around the building. Last week the tree on Dunnell Road uprooted and rested against the residence there. The Maplewood Shade Tree Division with the assistance of Public Service removed the tree from the house and lowered it to a safe point. The rest of the tree will be removed when there enough other trunks to comprise a day's work. | ||
| Lydia Supporter Username: Lydial Post Number: 2109 Registered: 5-2001 |
I don't have an issue with dead tree removal - what I think we need to do is more preventative care of our currently healthy trees. Old trees die of course - but I've noticed many old trees that are stressed and could probably be saved/revived with some nurturing. It probably costs less in the long run to keep a tree alive than have a crew take it down. Beckz - I didn't know old oaks were being taken down because of sidewalk work on Springfield - that's unfortunate to say the least. Springfield Avenue already feels too "hot" - lots of shade trees are nice-looking + they create a micro-climate. I hope the new trees are hardwood and not ornamentals. | ||
| hch Citizen Username: Hch Post Number: 335 Registered: 8-2002 |
Several trees on my street have literally been butchered because they were under or near power lines. I'm not sure who is responsible (town or power company) but my guess is the power company. I have seen trees cut in half (horizontally and vertically) and also had the middle cut out. Ridiculous. The town should monitor how these trees are cut. | ||
| Eponymous Citizen Username: Eponymous Post Number: 219 Registered: 6-2004 |
beckyz, Where have trees been taken down on SA? I've only seen new (smaller) ones go up in the past few years. (I'm not a fan of ginkos, for the record, but there are lots of native trees that are lower-story and compatible with power lines.) | ||
| toad Citizen Username: Toad Post Number: 147 Registered: 6-2001 |
This year Maplewood spent roughly $3500 just to inoculate it's valuable elm trees from dutch elm disease. This procedure protects the trees for up to three years from the disease. The Township does monitor line clearing by the PSE&G contractor. However, line clearance is federally mandated and clearance specifications are strictly enforced by the overseeing agency. The Township is making every possible effort to utilize tree species that will not grow into the primary power lines and require such heavy pruning when they mature. | ||
| mrmaplewood Citizen Username: Mrmaplewood Post Number: 384 Registered: 5-2001 |
Toad Excuse me, but your explaination of what happened to the tree on Dunnell doesn't wash with me. It did not uproot as you can plainly see by examining the trunk that is left. It was allowed to grow a large offshoot which eventually grew into the residence. The tree was healthy as far as I could see. Yet the town decided to take it totally down instead of removing the offending offshoot. It could have been saved and still be providing shade. It seems as if no preventative maintenance is performed on our trees until they are cut down. Oh, and also, the trunk you said would remain for a day when there are enough other trunks to constitute a full day's work is still there, while the tree in front of the police station was fully removed, trunk and all, down to the stump. I detect some spinning. | ||
| toad Citizen Username: Toad Post Number: 148 Registered: 6-2001 |
Mrmaplewood- Those are the facts, take it or leave it. If you would like to call me I would be happy to discuss it with you (201-978-8546) | ||
| chroma Citizen Username: Chroma Post Number: 49 Registered: 3-2005 |
I have observed numerous instances of mature trees being taken down instead of trimmed and saved. Just a few weeks ago, three mature trees (+14" caliper, two sycamores and a large cedar) were taken down prior to the reconstruction of the sidewalk on Summit Ave and Midland Boulevard. All were street trees. A couple of years ago, a large weeping cherry was removed from our street: its trunk had been not vertical for the entire fifteen years that we had lived on the block. Our neighbors, who came upon the removal at the end of the process, were told by the town tree crew that it was removed because it was "leaning." It had been gorgeous when it bloomed in the spring... Five or six years ago, we called the town and asked that the huge town maple in front of our house have one dead limb over our driveway removed, and we were stunned to come home one day to find just the fifteen foot high trunk remaining. The trunk stayed for well over a month before it was finally removed. At around the same time, our neighbor asked to have a dead poplar removed. The tree crew also removed the healthy poplar (about 50” high) which was a few feet away. Several years ago, several large street trees were removed from the front of Tuscan School when the sidewalk was redone. Again, the reason cited was potential damage to the roots, potentially weakening the tree so eventually (many years later?) it could fall, or the roots will eventually push up the nice, flat new concrete sidewalk, there by causing a tripping hazard. I have observed other instances over the last few years that are too many to list. I regret to say that it seems as though the care of our town’s beautiful trees is not being done as sensitively as it has in the past. There seems to be an attitude of “if it looks like it’ll need to come down eventually, let’s just take it down now.” I have seen little respect for the treescape that was so carefully designed and maintained over Mr. Walter’s tenure. One member of the tree crew admitted to me that the replacement trees are the best trees that we can get for our budget, but that we don’t have enough money to do the job as well as we should. This makes me think that every effort should be made to maintain the mature trees that we have, saving as many as we can, and only replacing those that really are dead or decayed down to the trunk. How many healthy trunks, with all limbs removed, have you seen around town? I know I’ve seen a fair number of them over the last few years. It seems as though we really do need to develop a tree ordinance for all trees on public land, which should be strictly enforced, along with some guidelines for homeowners. The sooner, the better. Whoever wants to spearhead this, feel free to PL me. I have no expertise in trees per se, but I am certainly interested in keeping this beautiful town trees intact. | ||
| mrmaplewood Citizen Username: Mrmaplewood Post Number: 385 Registered: 5-2001 |
Chroma Here, Here! (Or is it Hear,Hear!) Unfortunately the excuse about roots encroaching the sidewalk is all too real. There is hardly a sidewalk in Maplewood with adequate space to the curb to accomodate a mature tree. But that does not fully explain some of the excessive tree removal that you and I notice. Perhaps we need to send our DPW people to an arboreal school so they have more skills in dealing with problem tree situations. Does that make sense as a first step? We need more tree surgeons, and fewer tree assassins. So are we relegated to immature trees because of the space problem? Maybe. But what about the policy of replacing our noble oaks, maples, and sycamores with lesser varities with soft and fast growing (read subject to easy damage) wood? Some of these trees are just plain ugly, some are messy, some have noxious thorns on the branches, and most do not have good longevity. Hey, the name of our town is Maplewood. | ||
| KRNL Citizen Username: Krnl Post Number: 117 Registered: 9-2005 |
Agree that the trees being planted do not have the majesty, longevity, etc. of our oaks, maples and sycamores. I have some sort of cyprus planted about 10-years ago that is (1) already dying and (2) roots that really upheave the sidewalk as well as a scrawny maple planted about the same time that has never grown despite my pampering. As to the roots upheaving the sidewalks, I get the impression that many of the newer residents prefer smooth sidewalks to trees. Within months of moving in, not only do they cut down beautiful, mature trees on their own property, but they become some sort of neighborhood sidewalk nazis--turning in their neighbors who have wonderful trees in their berms, but also the heaved sidewalk that might go along with the tree. Remember the lovely bluestone sidewalks? Perhaps we should start a historical preservation movement to protect the few that are left. When I first moved to Maplewood and went to the newcomers meeting, the first response from most of the newbies as to why they moved here was "the beautiful trees"--then, somewhere down the list was the train service. | ||
| beckyz Citizen Username: Beckyz Post Number: 6 Registered: 1-2006 |
To answer your question, Eponymous - and for anyone else who doesn't come over to my side of town; between Boyden Ave and Burnet along SA they are putting in new sidewalks (between us, the old ones weren't too bad - definitely not as bad as the sidewalks near the town pool). They did a similar project last summer on the Boyden Parkway/Boyden Ave corner. It also sounds like the project on Midland that Chroma described. They uproot the older shade trees, buy young trees (which they did not plant in time, and were discarded), then buy and plant other young trees in designated areas in the new sidewalk. Local business owners I spoke to were not thrilled to have a summer without shade. And comically, one of the cutouts in the sidewalk where a new tree is to be planted is directly in the path of a pretty low powerline! When my husband and I had the sidewalk fixed in front of our home, we were able to save the tree in front of our house and still attain a level sidewalk. Also, for those of you who brought up how the trees are butchered when cut around powerlines - I have seen PSE&G doing that. I have no idea if it is even know by the township. I find it strange that some utility workers are at MY tree trimming it without even a knock on my door. Trees make a HUGE difference in many aspects of a town - I'm shocked that more people are not concerned about this. | ||
| chroma Citizen Username: Chroma Post Number: 50 Registered: 3-2005 |
Drive through Summit, and you will see lots of power lines going through the thick branches of majestic trees. Why are they not being similarly gouged? I also see sidewalks bent around trees, which perhaps may be another option for us. I do remember seeing this here more commonly years ago when we moved here, but they seem to be disappearing. My guess is that Summit may have ordinances protecting their canopy: it is in the interest of the town. Mature trees mean higher property values. They also mean carbon dioxide transformed into oxygen, which is a big deal these days. To say nothing of their beauty. To recast the offer, anyone who is interested in going to the TC as a group (I think that if we get together here, we are more likely to have a response)should PL me, I'll get everyone's responses together, send out an e-mail setting up a list of concerns for everyone to approve, then we (that is, anyone who wants to join me) can go to the TC and offer our list of concerns. Who's in? PL me if you're interested... | ||
| jspjnc Citizen Username: Jspjnc Post Number: 11 Registered: 8-2001 |
I am glad to see others concerned about unnecessary, destructive removal of trees in our town. Here is a letter I sent to the Township Committee over a month ago about the removal of street trees on Springfield between Burnett and Boyden. Vic DeLuca was the only one who responded, saying he'd look into what happened, but I haven't heard anything since. email sent July 6, 2006 to members of TC: Hi Township Committee, I am happy to see work progressing on Springfield Avenue. But I also believe that in redevelopment as in medicine, the principle "First, do no harm," should apply. We must know and value what is already there before we replace it with what might be. Sad to say, I do not think this was done in the case of a number of nice big street trees on Springfield Avenue in the stretch from Burnett St. to Boyden Ave. Are you aware of what has been going on there? In the last 10 days, several big trees (25-30 years old at least, trunks 18 inches-2 feet in diameter at stump) have been cut down. One was a nice big plum tree much appreciated for its shade by the people who sit on the bench waiting for the bus at the intersection of Springfield and Burnett. This removal in particular made no sense to me. In the week before, a work crew completed the bump-out of the adjacent sidewalk and curb basically without disturbing this tree. (They trimmed the ends of some branches. Then they ate their lunch in its shade). Who gave the subsequent order to cut this tree down, and why? (Note: as of August 13, this area has been completely paved over. No shade, and no plans to replant, apparently). Another large tree (24 inch stump) was cut down on the same side of the street further down the block toward Boyden. Why? No other construction activity seems to be going on at that location. (As of August 13, area has been dug up. The last remaining trees on that side of the street, in the lawn of the Animal Hospital building (not in the sidewalk)have been cut down. They were healthy). Across Springfield on the Bette White side of the street a number of other trees were also cut down. (There is still at least one tree remaining at mid-block)(Not anymore - Aug. 13). On this side at least I can see some kind of digging going on related to pipe repair (?) or maybe the sidewalk will be widened (?) Still, why couldn't some effort have been made to build around the nice big dawn redwoods near the Litzebauer store near Boyden? As long as you're bumping out, why not bump out around a tree? It is not easy for a tree to grow in this location. With so much pavement, tree roots don't get the water and air they need. The trees that were cut down had succeeded against great odds. Every time I passed by I marvelled at how well they were growing in such tiny tree pits. They were one bright spot in this worn landscape. It is expensive to replace trees. The new balled and burlapped ones that have been waiting to be planted for over a month over near Hilton library are no longer in good shape. Many no longer have leaves. No one has watered them in this time. These look to be at least $500 trees. Have we paid for these? If they have died or are growing poorly 2 years from now, who pays? If I were you i would refuse these now and insist on allowing only trees in great shape to be planted on Springfield -- conditions are too harsh for any others to make it. Even planting a healthy sapling is no guarantee of survival. When a homeowner in New York City wants to remove a mature, healthy street tree, Henry Stern, the Parks Commissioner, charges a significant fee. This fee, based on the diameter of the tree, reflects the fact that in order to obtain one tree which will eventually reach, say 30 feet, not one but 20 saplings must be planted. The fee reflects the true mortality rates of street trees and the true cost of replacing what is removed. I believe with Henry Stern that trees are an investment and a patrimony that belongs to the municipality, which must in turn value and protect them. In spite of the beauty and shade they offered, the Springfield trees were not valued, they were erased. Why? Did you not see or care about them, so their fate was left up to the discretion of contractors for whom trees are just impediments? Hoping to hear from you how these things happened and how they can be avoided in the future. Jane Conrad | ||
| beckyz Citizen Username: Beckyz Post Number: 7 Registered: 1-2006 |
Chroma - I am with you! I am willing to go to TC together. As a relatively novice poster, I don't know what "PL" means - sorry! Jane - WOW. You said it all. Aside from the information about Henry Stern (which I did not know), I would have written an identical letter (though not as eloquent) had I not thought to post here first. My husband and I are looking to move into a bigger home in town, and all of this tree business is seriously giving me doubts about staying in Maplewood. If this town is just a train stop, I can look elsewhere. |
