New Trees for the Gardens!

 

During the week beginning May 6th, eight new trees were planted throughout the Gardens. This is just the beginning of a program of “legacy tree planting” which will follow for years to come, and should provide a degree of comfort to those who have watched our trees being pruned or removed over the past few years and wondered when the few spaces in our tree canopy would be addressed.

One of the things that distinguishes Forest Hills Gardens from other communities is our beautiful and abundant tree collection, some of which date back a hundred years. In 2021, Almstead Tree, Shrub and Lawn care company completed a tree inventory for the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation. Their first concern was to identify trees in poor condition and unfortunately six were discovered to be in such bad shape that they had to be removed. This was followed by a major pruning program in Winter 2021 and Spring 2022 as well as treatments for certain trees such as Ash.

In 2023 Almstead conducted a Tree Risk Assessment for all 1,658 trees in Forest Hills Gardens. This phase focused on implementing safety measures (structural pruning, removals, etc.) whilst also strengthening and preserving the vitality of our beloved mature trees. Once that process was completed it was time to consider a “legacy” planting of new trees.

In order to choose which trees, and where to place them, Almstead’s arborists (Michael Almstead and Marisa Del Corso) worked with Historical Landscape Architects of Liz Sargent, HLA (Liz Sargent and Lucy Lawliss) and the members of the Forest Hills Gardens Tree Committee. The first phase for this legacy planting included eight trees planted in early May 2024. A small number of trees will also be planted this Fall, and even more in Spring 2025. Meanwhile tree pruning must, and will, continue.

The following is a complete list of the newly planted trees and their locations (feel free to visit them!):

17 Station Square – American Basswood

100 Greenway Terrace – Bur Oak

72 Greenway North – Bur Oak

225 Burns Street – Princeton Elm

150 Burns Street – 2 Armstrong Maples

205 Puritan Avenue – Flowering Crabapple

57 Russell Place – Little Leaf Linden