Forum Archive: Posts by: sweiss

We have a huge sidewalk tree in front of our house in South Slope (and by huge, I mean taller than my 3-story house), planted in a teeny tiny tree pit, maybe 3 ft square. The tree looks like it’s being squished – its trunk alone is practically wider than its sidewalk space.

I notice that the sidewalk in front of our house is wider than in front of our neighbors houses, plus there’s lots of lateral space on either side of the tree pit. So, I’m trying to figure out how to get the tree a little more space. We’d be willing to pay someone to enlarge the tree pit, but I want to get permission first. The folks at 311 and the department of transportation (who technically own the sidewalks) just seem baffled by this question. Any ideas?

My husband has also pointed out that maybe I should just leave well-enough alone, and if the tree has already managed to thrive in this small space then maybe we should just let it be. I don’t know a ton about trees.. but feels like more space would be better.. any thoughts here?