New York Times
New Yorkers, It’s Tree Planting Season
By MIREYA NAVARRO
Green: Living
The Bloomberg administration’s initiative to plant one million new trees in New York City is past the halfway mark but still has a long way to go. To broaden a canopy that beautifies the city while also filtering pollution and reducing stormwater runoff, the New York Restoration Project has scheduled tree giveaways in all five boroughs in October and November.
The nonprofit organization, founded by the singer and actress Bette Midler, is providing 1,400 trees ”“ among them the Franklin tree, the American persimmon and the Southern Magnolia, although the types vary depending on the giveaway location – for people to plant in their yards, on commercial property and in community gardens. Online registration at the Restoration Project’s Web site is required for the giveaways, which begin on Oct. 13 in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
“We select our species palate with a bias for species native to the Northeast and try and make our selections as diverse as possible,” said Sophie Plitt, the Restoration Project’s forestry coordinator. The point is to select trees “that will survive in typical N.Y.C. soil conditions, which are not always ideal,” she said.
More than 600,000 trees have been planted through the campaign since 2007. and the goal is to reach the one million mark by 2017. Unsurprisingly, some New Yorkers view trees as a nuisance that may eventually cause sidewalks to buckle and create leaf litter. And the city, which has also been planting trees on streets and in parks, has sometimes been faulted for not taking proper care of them afterward.
City officials counter that not all tree plantings take and a modest mortality rate should be expected.
The Restoration Project says it will have representatives on hand at the giveaways to explain how to plant a tree and maximize its chances of survival. Below is a list of the tree varieties. Remember: not all species will be available at all locations.
The types of trees that are being given away under the MillionTreesNYC initiative. Not all will be available at all locations:
Related articles
