Trees, Urban Forest, of Boston and New England

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Trees are important to cities. I'd like to discuss their role. At least these roles

1) Street furniture & place making
- a source of shade and comfort
- Sound deadening (noise pollution cure)
- visual screen

2) As climate partner
- stormwater management, air cleaning
- heat management
- carbon sequestration

3) Recreation asset
- Forested parks
- Rope Course?

4) Threats
- projects
- pests (gypsy moths released in Medford MA :-(
-- 17yr locusts (threat to small trees, rely on undisturbed forests)
-- asian longhorn
-- emerald ash borer
-- Chestnut blight
-- Dutch elm
-- Winter moth
- hostile people (cut a tree to steal a bike)

--- and things like ---

Tree age and size (the big issue on Melnea Cass)
- adding new trees
- getting them to maturity
- protecting them at maturity

Species selection & mix

Tree City USA
- does your town have a Forestry Plan?
- a Tree Warden?
- a prune, remove, plan, plant, grow plan?
 
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I was inspired by this old post in the MGH thread in which we see how important Elms were in the 1800s and 1900s We may also cover how important Chestnuts were in the 1700s and 1800s

Also of interest: the black "anti climbing caterpillar" bands, which I think were an anti-gypsy moth thing?
I assume these are some sort of tarred "tanglefoot" traps on the trees in what would be a spring "pre leaf" photo:

For any pest where they mature in the canopy, but drop and overwinter in the ground, "climbing back up" in the spring was a big deal.

Which is also why Winter Moths caught us off guard, laying their "inchworm" eggs directly on leaf buds in the fall (and overwitntering) up there.

mgh_01b.jpg
 
The politics of urban trees are major. See the discussion in the Melnea Cass thread with accusations of "environmental racism" by some Roxbury groups over the planned removal of mature trees along the Blvd.
 
Cutting/removing street trees, especially mature plantings, upsets people for good reasons. Melnea Cass is the latest case. There's a famous example from the '60s of people protesting a plan to remove the sycamores along Memorial Drive between the Anderson and the Eliot bridges, presumably to widen the road. AFAIK no one has seriously proposed to widen, straighten out, and remove trees from the Jamaicaway and Riverway but that's another great example of urban trees having a hold on the public imagination. Boston isn't especially good on street trees. Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline are much better, even though Cambridge and Somerville have the same pattern of narrow streets, narrow sidewalks and buildings/houses built close to the street line. I guess the historical pattern for street trees is not many in dense city streets except for streets like Commonwealth Avenue. It varies a lot from place to place--New Haven was famous for its elm-lined streets but that was unusual. Surely Melnea Cass is plenty wide enough for street trees to do well even if not particularly well taken care of. I remember Tonawanda St, Dorchester, in the 1970s with its full complement of mature tonawanda (ginkgo) trees. Now many are gone and looking in "street view" I don't see new ones planted. Hard to believe someone doesn't care enough about that particular urban tree history to restore the tonawanda plantings--although people object to the female trees that drop the stinky seeds. Lots of streets in Dorchester and similar areas never had continuous street trees and there are plenty of precedents for urban streets without trees. Many homeowners don't want street trees-- the leaf litter, roots in the sewer pipe, driveway interference, etc. The aesthetics of a typical Boston area street with narrow frontage lot frame houses planted with trees, like many in Somerville and Cambridge, are so much more pleasant than the equivalent streets in Roslindale or Dorchester with only the occasional street tree.
 
Crazy, I literally feel the exact opposite, but a lot of this was shaped by my time spent deployed to Japan. Japanese city streets are literally tiled in between the asphalt and concrete to where there isnt even a blade of grass unless its supposed to be there. It is the epitome of urban there, to where every inch of ground has been created by man. Compared to that I always felt like Boston had trees everywhere. Kinda crazy how different two peoples perspectives can be in the same place due to different experiences.

Heres some examples of Hiroshima streets.
hiroshima_yagenbori_streets_9188.jpg

a-street-scene-with-shops-signs-and-people-from-the-horikawa-district-horikawa-cho-of-hiroshima-japan-PXKGR4.jpg

hiroshima_yagenbori_streets_9189.jpg

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It's not just Hiroshima either that's like that.

That being said, I also think Japan, in general, finds ways to get parks and greenery into neighborhoods in really creative ways. In most cities, a green space has never felt particularly far away. Perhaps tucked in a place between some houses that used to be a home or along the edge of a river or stream, and of course, some amazing large parks as well.
 
The street trees at the spot where Kelton Street in Allston turns into Winchester Street in Brookline are absolute showstoppers. (If I did it the link right, click here for the view into Allston, and then rotate 180° and ENHANCE! to see how the other half lives.) Amazing how the 100+ year old decisions to plant those trees are so impactful today. There are worse ways to outlive oneself.
 
The street trees at the spot where Kelton Street in Allston turns into Winchester Street in Brookline are absolute showstoppers. (If I did it the link right, click here for the view into Allston, and then rotate 180° and ENHANCE! to see how the other half lives.) Amazing how the 100+ year old decisions to plant those trees are so impactful today. There are worse ways to outlive oneself.

The tree canopy difference between Brookline and Allston is really striking. And frustrating.
 
Crazy, I literally feel the exact opposite, but a lot of this was shaped by my time spent deployed to Japan. Japanese city streets are literally tiled in between the asphalt and concrete to where there isnt even a blade of grass unless its supposed to be there. It is the epitome of urban there, to where every inch of ground has been created by man. Compared to that I always felt like Boston had trees everywhere. Kinda crazy how different two peoples perspectives can be in the same place due to different experiences.

Heres some examples of Hiroshima streets.
Such great pictures. I was thinking of European city centers but Japanese and other Asian cities have more intense contrasts between leafy settings and urban ones. Boston really does have trees everywhere—only pavement or mowing stops them from growing. Street trees are a particular category with great benefits that don’t come without continued care. North end and Beacon Hill offer contrasting aesthetics at similar density. North End has the older medieval European aesthetic of no street trees but intensive plantings in certain public spaces — Prado and Copps Hill cemetery. Beacon Hill about as dense but great effort to maintain street trees — with uneven results.
 
The “before” Pictures appear to be Ornamental pears, which while gorgeous in both spring (white) and fall (red) were fragile street trees (weak crotches; easily damaged by wind). Coulda been one big wind storm or snow-while-still-in-leaf?
 
Incidentally, if you see wet spots on the pavement (Sidewalk or street) Under a tree this time of year that Treeis probably a mulberry (Which will have either solid white,mottled, or pinkish red fruits the size of your thumb tip.

Very hard to harvest (When ripe they fall off extremely easily sound go so far as to spread a blanket under a Mulberry and shake it)

Fruits have the consistency of a raspberry or boysenberry taste like a grape
 
If you see a bush with wet spots under it and red-purple blueberry shaped fruits, it is a serviceberry aka Juneberry,
 
When you see a tree, particularly an oak, with dead tips like this, you know it is the work of cicadas:
A2E3D3E8-9E8F-4D95-8858-ED0A390ECDED.jpeg

Cambrige, Mass Ave at Alewife Brook Parkway
 
The politics of urban trees are major. See the discussion in the Melnea Cass thread with accusations of "environmental racism" by some Roxbury groups over the planned removal of mature trees along the Blvd.
The use of scare quotes for something that is obviously correct is odd. Roxbury, especially lower Roxbury which was a primary victim of "urban renewal," already has disproportionately low numbers of trees as you can see from this tree map. Interestingly the main exception in the area is the corner of Melnea where the trees people were protecting are.

Taking out healthy mature trees disrupts the canopy for a long time, even if trees are replanted. The city is losing trees at an alarming rate for private development while claiming to be protecting them. I know these trees offer a bit of respite from an otherwise oppressive heat island in the summer. The community was absolutely right that this callousness was racialized (aka it is environmental racism).
 
I just found out that you can request or suggest a site for a street tree using the city 311 site. You can request one wherever the conditions are right for it (even if there isn't an existing tree hole) All you need is a picture and the location to suggest it as well as an email address. You do not need to live right there, although it may help the likelihood of response. I bet using the tree equity map for the city and google maps could be useful to scout potential sites for street trees in areas where they are lacking but I haven't had time to check that out myself. Felt like info worth sharing.
 
This looked like the closest thread to the topic.

Malden To Receive $100K Tree Planting Grant From Gov. Healey
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“MALDEN, MA – Governor Maura Healey is set to give Malden a $100,000 grant to plant 154 trees in partnership with the Mystic River Watershed Association, through the Greening the Gateway Cities (GGCP) Implementation Grant Program.
In total, $1.3 million in grants will be awarded to Gateway Cities – midsize urban centers that anchor regional economies around the state – to plant trees.
Eight municipalities and two non-profit organizations will receive $988,300 total in awards through the Greening the Gateway Cities (GGCP) Implementation Grant Program. Additionally, 15 projects will receive awards totaling $313,571 through the GCCP’s Partnership Grant Program.”


“The GGCP Implementation Grant awardees are:
  • City of Everett – $100,000 to plant 65 trees.
  • City of Fall River – $99,650 to plant 190 trees in three parks with aging canopy in need of rebalanced age diversity.
  • City of Fitchburg – $88,650 to plant an estimated 50 trees in 3 parks and pursue arborist training to certify 2-3 staff.
  • City of Haverhill - $100,000 to plant 300 trees and disseminate educational brochures pertaining to the benefits of a healthy tree canopy and tree care.
  • City of Holyoke – $100,000 to plant 60 trees in tandem with community outreach conducted with OneHolyoke CDC in the Flats, Downtown and Churchill Neighborhoods.
  • City of Malden – $100,000 to plant 154 trees in partnership with the Mystic River Watershed Association.
  • City of Quincy – $100,000 to plant 60 trees in the Quincy Point neighborhood, as well as create or expand an estimated 40 tree pits in coordination with DCR.
  • City of Salem- $100,000 to plant 105 trees in Environmental Justice communities and urban heat islands within Wards 1, 4, 6, and 7 with outreach conducted by Salem Sound Coastwatch.
  • Groundwork Lawrence – $100,000 to this community-based non-governmental organization to plant 350 trees in the South Lawrence West neighborhood impacted by the Columbia Gas line explosion, and the Tower Hill neighborhood.
  • New England Botanic Garden - $100,000 to expand the "Get a tree, Plant a tree" program, and complete 200 more residential tree plantings in the Grafton Hill, Main South and Bell Hill neighborhoods of Worcester.
The GGCP Partnership Grant awardees are:
  • City of Chelsea – $30,000 to purchase and install two catch basin tree pits to intercept storm water runoff and support tree growth.
  • City of Fitchburg - $12,944 to prepare 16 tree pits within the DCR planting zone.
  • City of Holyoke – $30,000 grant award to prepare 19 tree pits in the Flats, Downtown, and Churchill neighborhoods of Holyoke.
  • City of Salem – $29,990 grant award to prepare 46 new tree planting sites in the Church Street and Riley Plaza parking lot areas.
  • City of Quincy – $30,000 grant award to prepare 40 3'x8' tree pits for street trees within the DCR planting zone.
  • Groundwork Lawrence – $20,000 to conduct door-to-door canvassing, literature mailings and tabling at community events to raise awareness of GGCP tree planting within the Haverhill DCR tree planting zone and communicate the benefits of urban canopy.
  • Groundwork Southcoast – $15,000 to conduct door-to-door canvasing and disseminate literature in the New Bedford DCR tree planting zone, as well as increased awareness of the program via social media.
  • Growing Places – $33,862 to grow community awareness of the GGCP in both Leominster and Fitchburg; connect DCR foresters with new landowners for tree planting in the DCR planting zones; and increase knowledge of the many benefits of urban tree planting within the community.
  • Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust – $20,000 to provide a series of programs to engage community residents in the GGCP-Lowell tree planting program and identify high priority planting locations to increase the city’s canopy.
  • One Holyoke CDC - $20,000 to disseminate information to residents in One Holyoke CDC properties in the planting zone via door-to-door canvassing, educational events focused on the GGCP, as well as assist with Spanish translation for outreach materials.
  • Regreen Springfield - $40,000 to install city bus shelter wraps along the major roadways in the GGCP neighborhoods to highlight the tree planting efforts of the GGCP and encourage residents to apply for a tree as well as to produce several short videos that raise awareness of the importance of urban trees and introduce the GGCP effort in Springfield.
  • Salem Sound Coastwatch – $20,000 to conduct outreach and generate interest in the GGCP program, and recruit residents to have tree(s) planted on their property as well as identify high priority planting locations across the designated planting zone in coordination with DCR.
  • Westfield Puerto Rican Association - $11,775 to strengthen partnerships and address environmental justice concerns through community outreach in coordination with the DCR tree planting team and conduct door-to-door outreach to raise awareness of the GGCP, as well as co-host an education session at the local library, and by table at the Westfield Farmers’ Market.”


    https://patch.com/massachusetts/malden/malden-receive-100k-tree-planting-grant-gov-healey
 

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