Currently the Newton Tree Conservancy operates a very beneficial and successful Community Tree Planting program entailing that groups of at least five homeowners request under a group leader the planting of a cluster of eight or more trees — sort of on an availability basis with two annual deadlines for applications for the Spring planting day and Autumn planting day, requiring a helper from each house be present on the day of planting. As the Conservancy is funded through sponsorship and private donations, no specific charge is required of those homeowners (although contributions certainly can be made to the Conservancy). As well, it is the stated policy of the Conservancy that its efforts should not be deemed to replace City funding, but rather supplement city funding.Â
Going back, say 30 years, the City of Newton, on application by a homeowner, would on an availability basis and at no charge, plant a tree or trees along the street at the homeowner’s designated site(s). In the years since, apparently funding limitations and other city financial priorities have curtailed that homeowner request program. Since the Newton Tree Conservancy tree planting program is a neighborhood community endeavor, entailing a number of neighborhood community requirements and commitments, this leaves unaddressed those single homeowner requests. Â
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Recognizing the funding limitations of the city, it is understandable for it to refrain from initiating (or if one exists on paper, energizing anew) such homeowner request tree planting program. For obvious reasons — beautification of the Garden City, natural habitat (birds etc.), shade from the sun to cool in summer, absorbing and storing carbon dioxide emissions to address climate change, and importantly property values — the more new tree plantings in Newton the better. Having said this, I would propose that the City of Newton establish a tree planting office whereby homeowners can apply to the City and PAY FOR a tree or trees to be planted — say $300 to $500 per tree — to cover the cost of a sizable enough specimen and labor. This would also allow neighbors of that homeowner to contribute inasmuch as new tree plantings benefit not only that homeowner, but the street and neighborhood.
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Thoughts on this would be appreciated — and if largely favorable — this poster would carry this initiative to city government.Â
This is the first of our Guest Posts. I hope we have many more. Thank you Jim
Thanks Jim! Great idea, anything we can do to get more trees out there would be huge.
It is really depressing how often I hear from residents that the tree in front of their home was cut down because it had become dangerous / was dying / etc. but was never replaced. We now know how important urban trees are to a sustainable city, and with climate change breathing down our neck, it is crazy to think that when trees need to come down they aren’t replaced.
If you want to better understand the importance of urban trees, check this out: https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/how-urban-trees-can-save-lives/
Jim, that is a great idea all around. It would be great to also encourage developers to kick in to the fund for a few street trees whenever they are building or rebuilding houses.
Excellent idea, Jim. I wonder, too, if one of the nearby tree nurseries or garden centers would be willing to offer a discounted price to Newton if they became a preferred vendor for such a program. The Mayor shopped around for electricity providers: Why not this, too?
That would be great!
The question I would have does that tree become a “city tree” or a homeowner tree. This might seem like semantics but if the tree falls, there is very much a different outcome of liability and cost. Over the many storms, we have had many trees fall into homes. I’ve always wondered who picks up that bill.
Excellent idea! Julia Malakie is of course our veritable walking urban tree commission & can advise on how, among other things, to make sure saplings aren’t planted into soils contaminated by gas leaks.
Mancy, regardless of who plants or pays for the tree, if planted on city property it is a city tree. If planted on the homeowner’s property, regardless of who plants or pays for it, it is the homeowner’s tree.
Which brings up an interesting consideration. Because of a sometimes precarious or too narrow city-owned tree lawn siting or location, I don’t see a legal prohibition for a homeowner to grant a right to the city just to come on the homeowner’s property for the purpose of planting a tree, also as under this plan the city is not paying for it or is being reimbursed. And the homeowner can sign a waiver of liability to the city in connection with that city planted tree on the homeowner’s property, perhaps planted nearer the street but still on the homeowner’s property.
I am a single homeowner requester that thinks this is a great idea. Â
I would take it one step further. If I am partially paying for the tree, I would like to have the option of the kind of tree and where to plant it. Â
There does not need to be a large number of options. Maybe 3-4 species besides Maples and Honeylocust. (There are too many diseased Maples on my street.) Â
I also have notice that a few of my neighbors had city trees planted in their front yard instead of the berm. (At lease that’s what the green tree watering bag indicates.) This could be beneficial to reduce the salt and auto damage. It also makes it easier for the homeowner to maintain.
Fifth, my thinking would be that you can always plant your own tree on your own property as well as generally secure city permission to plant a tree on the city’s tree lawn property. That is, if you would be seeking something beyond, or a step further than, what would be provided through a city tree planting office.
Also, my thinking is that any fee charged by the city for the tree and its planting, would cover the full cost of the tree, not partially cover the cost.
The aim would be to make it as easy as possible (including financially) for the city to plant as many trees as possible, under the city’s guidance and maintenance of this service. And as Paul Levy suggests above, the city is in a position to negotiate favorable terms with a nursery or nurseries.
Again, these would be my suggestions, but certainly open to further discussion.
Jim, thank you for writing about my favorite topic! I do think it’s worth noting that under current policy, homeowners may plant trees on city property (such as the berm, aka the “hell strip” between the sidewalk and the road) with permission of the Forestry Department. You can plant the tree yourself or hire someone (privately) to do it for you. Forestry can provide advice about proximity to driveways, underground utilities, etc., and appropriate species for street trees. They maintain lists of what kinds of trees are appropriate for planting under utility lines, offer benefits as native plants to our region, and so on.
DIY planting is not for everyone (but as the Newton Tree Conservancy community planting efforts show, it’s something many of us could participate in if shown how to do it right). At the same time, a $300–$500 fee would be out of reach for many. So I would love to see different options out there.
I have no idea whether the City could come up with an model where the fees would adequately cover the cost of both trees and labor. Alternatively, would this be an opportunity to give more business to our local landscapers? That would offer a benefit to local business in its own right. We could draw up a list of vendors and nurseries to make it easier for residents.
Perhaps the City (or simply a team of tree-loving residents) could put together an educational campaign targeting individual homeowners who want to plant street trees, and breaks it down into easy steps: 1) Decide where you want to plant your tree(s), watching out for gas and water lines, and observing the minimum distance from driveways and cutouts; 2) Choose what type of tree(s) to plant! Having a mix of species in a neighborhood is good because of (insert biodiversity reasons here). If planting under wires, choose from list A, if not, list B. 3) Apply to the Forestry Dept. for permission. 4) When you get the green light, order your trees from this handy list of recommended local and online nurseries. 5) Plant your trees as soon as possible after they arrive. Hire from this list of recommended landscapers or DIY using these instructions. And so on…
Anyway, I was just kind of making that up, but you get the idea. (Boy will I feel silly if I learn something like this already exists.) 🙂
Whatever we can do to get discounts on tree purchases would be terrific. Last winter I ordered a half-dozen bare-root fruit trees online for $25-30 apiece. Planting them in early spring was about as easy as it gets—they were just tall, light sticks that have since leafed out and branched into little trees. I know people gravitate toward having a sizable tree from the get-go, and there are some minimum height requirements for street trees, but overall a younger tree will have a much easier time getting established, especially in a brutal place like the berm. You’d be surprised how fast many of them will grow.
Does anyone know the rules for tree replacement if there is a teardown or property addition?
I think there can be some improvements in this policy, but I don’t have the details down enough.
I believe that if a developer cuts down trees they need to add back replacements of the equivalent caliper inches. I have heard that there is a problematic loophole through. A random citizen can remove a tree on their property without replacing it. I understand that there have been cases where a developer has the property owner clear trees before the transfer of the property to get around that regulation.
I’m sure that there are people who know a lot more than me about this to fill in more details or correct me.
Great topic! And Another Sarah has a lot of good info.
I’ll write more after dark (need to use daylight for knocking on doors in W3), and I’ve requested current fee info from Marc Welch, but to get people started:
There’s a list of species that indicates what species can be planted under utility wires (smaller maturing species), on berms without wires, and off berm, on the Newton Tree Conservancy website here:
http://newtontreeconservancy.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tree-list-with-native-notes.pdf
BUT NOTE, we need to update it to remove Fraxinus (ash) species, because no one is planting those (probably anywhere in the US) due to Emerald Ash Borer
If you want to plant a tree on the berm, you should clear both species and location with Marc Welch ([email protected]), and have DigSafe mark gas and electric, and DPW mark water and sewer, so you can plant ideally at least 5ft from any underground utility lines.
City Forestry Department has in budget planting a limited amount of “homeowner watering” trees, which are usually done in spring. Fall plantings are the big batches of city plantings in concentrated areas.
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/parks/forestry/planting.asp
Tree Preservation Ordinance requires essentially developers (exempting homeowners who are staying) to replace caliper inches or pay into the city’s Tree Preservation Fund to cover replacement inches, for trees that are removed that are 8″DBH (Diameter at Breast Height).
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/parks/forestry/ordinance.asp
Bare-root is a great way to plant. The city’s tree supplier only sells whosesale, to municipalities and nurseries, but if you can’t find a species you’re looking for at a local nursery like Mahoney’s or Weston Nurseries, you can actually mail order trees. Several years ago (2011?) when I was looking for sweetgums and the only local ones were too large caliper to fit on our berms, I bought one from ForestFarm in Oregon. I think it was not bare root, but in a small container or grow bag. It was maybe six or eight feet tall and I had to train a new leader because the top had been lopped off to fit it in the box, but it’s doing great.
It is true that in a few years, the smaller caliper (e.g. 1″) tree you plant now, will be just as big as if you’d planted a larger caliper (e.g. 2-1/2 to 3″ caliper) now, because it will be starting with less of its roots having been lost in the harvesting process, so it will recover more quickly from transplant shock.
Julia:
You’d be doing all of us a service if you could list your top 3 trees for berms. I think a number of folks don’t know the difference between the options and just want some guidance.