Street Tree Demo Planting!
Throughout 2023, we are excited to have continued the expanded component to our street tree planting project – demonstration tree plantings! Over the past three years, Trees New York began engaging volunteers and community members in the street tree planting process to educate them on the size and scope of a typical street tree planting in New York City. We realized that once community members have a greater understanding of the process, they become stronger advocates for our urban forest.
Unlike most cities, street tree plantings in New York require the use of contractors, mainly due to the size and weight of the street tree that is being planted. Therefore, historically, this has excluded volunteers from participating in the planting process.
Working with volunteers, we recognized that the public has a lot of interest in planting street trees and have several questions about the process.
For example, they often ask – why are street trees so expensive and why do street tree plantings require such a rigorous permitting process? We are often also asked why street tree plantings require contractors and heavy equipment.
To better answer these questions so our volunteers and community members can gain a more solid understating of the planting process, Trees New York invites community members to watch and participate in some of our street tree planting projects.
This year, we started the planting season with two new street trees along the Broadway Malls in Hamilton Heights. We then celebrated Arbor Day on Northern Playground in Jackson Heights, Queens with another demo, where eight Serviceberry trees found their new home, and in celebration of Earth Month, we planted a variety of seven street trees along 118th Street in East Harlem, and in Brooklyn along Irving Square Park in Bushwick and the Arlington Library in Cypress Hills!
The participants watched the Arborist and contractors unload the 600lb street trees from the truck, remove the soil from the tree bed, backfill the tree bed with new soil, and use the equipment to lift the trees into the tree bed. Following the contractors, the participants shoveled the new soil into the tree beds, stabilized the trees with stakes, and watered and mulched the trees.
We also gathered with our community partners on Randalls Island and planted 37 new trees in Randalls Island Park with the help of our volunteers. To make sure the diversity of our great city is also represented in our urban forest, we planted Red Maple (Cultivar), Sugarberry, American Sycamore, Swamp White Oak, Scarlet Oak, Shingle Oak, Bur Oak, Pin Oak, Willow Oak, Red Oak, and Bald Cypress trees!
This was all made possible thanks to our generous supporters and volunteers!
Click here to watch Sam’s presentation: “Planting a New York City Street Tree”.
Our first demo street tree planting of the season along the Broadway Malls in Hamilton Heights!
