Planting Tree on Sidewalk
We want to plant a tree in front of our house (there’s already a pit so we don’t need the concrete drilled). Can anyone recommend where to buy the tree? Will they also plant it? We decided to buy it ourselves rather than adding our names to the list for a free city tree, which…
We want to plant a tree in front of our house (there’s already a pit so we don’t need the concrete drilled). Can anyone recommend where to buy the tree? Will they also plant it? We decided to buy it ourselves rather than adding our names to the list for a free city tree, which can take up to 2 years. Also does anyone have a recommendation for tree species? We’d like one that blossoms in the Spring. And it would be nice to get a hardy one that grows quickly. Thanks!
thanks everyone~
I was up on my roof this past fall and noticed my London Plane tree WAS COVERED in bugs! It caused the leaves to fall earlier. I started to look at all the London Planes around my neighborhood and found them in the same condition. Thanks to all you tree huggers out there. There is nothing like a street with trees. Ginkos… I think only the females have fruit.
We applied online for a City Street Tree around April 2004 and it was planted by around Oct./Nov. 2004. I happened to be outside when the forestry guy came and he asked me what kind of tree I wanted. I had no idea!! We decided on a Japanese Pagoda tree. My neighbor ordered a Cherry Blossom. Unfortunately, he got the Japanese Pagoda and I got the Cherry Blossom. With a few friendly phone calls to Brooklyn Forestry, they came back and switched the trees. They were very nice about it. I love having a tree out there.
We also bought a Japanese Plum for our front yard from Gardel’s Garden in Fort Greene. He came and planted it and it looks great.
I actually filled out the form for a tree on the Parks Dept site and was pleasantly suprised about 10 months later when I came home to find a young rubber tree planted in front. I actually never thought it would happen. There was some stressful moments about 3 weeks before the planting, as they cut up the sidewalk and sprayed red markng paint all over (I had no idea it was going to be a tree pit, it looked as if ConEd or some rogue construction company made a mistake)
Callery pears are also pollution-resistant; that’s why you see so many of them being planted around the city these days. They’re very tough and hardy trees, as well as pretty in spring.
The City planted several pear trees on our block. They seem hardy, grow a foot or two a year, and have nice blossoms in the Spring. I think a neighbor kept on pestering the City — but I don’t think the process took more than a couple months (and that was before NYC bureaucracy became so “efficient”).
Callery Pears are very nice. Plus they blossom earlier than others which can be nice after a long dreary winter…
Callery pears are nice trees. Going down 5th Avenue between Union and Flatbush you’ll see a lot of them. They flower white in the spring, give good shade in the summer, and the leaves are easy to pick up in the fall. We have two in front of our building; they even have a little plaque from Parks saying what type of tree they are. They also grow tall, and prune and shape well … even after low branches get accidentally pruned by overheight trucks.
Not that you’d be considering it since it does not have blossoms in the Spring, but I would advise NOT to go with: 1. London Plane Trees – there have been untreatable leaf eating mites for decades in these otherwise beautiful trees; 2. Ginko trees – beautiful but very messy, smelly fruit in the Autumn. Also, I love dogwoods but they do not grow terribly large and are susceptible to disease as I understand it. Great for a front garden, but you might consider a larger tree for the sidewalk which can be pruned properly with the branches high enough to clear big trucks etc.