Meet The Tree Nurse Of South Burlington
When she noticed a number of newly planted trees seemed to be languishing on city streets Pool Landscaping, including those in her neighborhood, she searched for the root of the problem. In the city’s fast-growing residential areas, the landscaping, installed for instant aesthetic effect, is often neglected.
“We have so many new neighborhoods in the city, and one of the first things developers do is plant the trees; and no one is there to care for them,†Ambusk said.
Associate city planner and interim planning director Cathyann LaRose said developers want to install landscaping as quickly as possible in order to sell property — which isn’t good for the trees.
“They’ve been grown in a pot, and the roots can continue to take over and strangle the tree if it’s not properly planted,†Ambusk said. Some of the trees are planted while still encased in wire baskets that contain their roots.
So Ambusk has taken the stewardship of South Burlington’s saplings into her own hands — along with a pair of pruning shears. Every Monday evening, from workday’s end until sundown, she and a team of volunteers known as “TREEage†hit the streets of South Burlington to care for the young trees.
The work isn’t difficult, Ambusk said: It really comes down to planting the tree properly and giving it daily care. Following an initial investment of time and watering in the early years, it will do quite well on its own for 100 more, she says.
TREEage evolved from Ambusk’s experience in the Master Gardener and Stewardship of the Urban Landscape programs offered by the University of Vermont Extension. The group has grown in number and knowledge in its second year, thanks to city arborist Craig Lambert’s pruning and maintenance clinics, Ambusk said. TREEage volunteers cared for 250 trees last year.
“We have literally been going tree-to-tree. It’s pretty slow work,†she said. She estimates South Burlington has 6,000 trees, Pool Landscaping and says Lambert has his hands full just dealing with day-to-day hazard maintenance.
Lambert offers public workshops on proper tree maintenance practices as part of the project. With his instruction, volunteers have undertaken root collar excavations and pruning on some of the more recently planted trees in South Burlington’s residential neighborhoods.
Lambert said Ambusk’s project is proving to be quite a benefit to the city: Her efforts have raised public awareness of the need to maintain the city’s tree resource, and her latest project will increase the number of trees the city will be able to plant.
This month, Ambusk planted 30 Princeton elm trees in a new community nursery with a $1,000 grant she received from GE Healthcare, where she works in finance Pool Landscaping. The city gave her permission to use land located at the National Gardening Association on Dorset Street for the nursery.
The elms are 2 years old and cost about $15 each. In another three to four years, they will be worth more than $200 each and will be ready to transplant to public land in South Burlington. Ambusk plans to add 30 new trees, in a variety of species, to the TREEage nursery each year.
LaRose says the nursery will also give the city credibility toward its goal of becoming a designated “Tree City, U.S.A.â€
The Tree City U.S.A. program aims to encourage better care of community forests and advance urban forestry practices while providing cleaner air, shadier streets and aesthetic beauty in populated areas. The designation will also open additional avenues for grant funding: With a tree budget of $1,000 per year (enough to purchase about three trees), the city can use all the help it can get, LaRose said.
The young elms are destined for a future lining South Burlington’s streets, especially in older neighborhoods that haven’t been getting much landscaping attention, LaRose said. They’ll be useful as the city’s recreation path extends through new neighborhoods, and there’s a potential the nursery project will be used for educational outreach in the schools. While the project hasn’t officially been linked to the development of the City Center downtown district, LaRose said the timing will be perfect.
Tags: aesthetic effect, city arborist, city planner, city streets, craig lambert, developers, elm trees, initial investment, landscape, Landscaping, master gardener, neglect, planning director, pool, Pool Landscaping, pruning shears, residential areas, rta, s south, saplings, stewardship, sundown, university of vermont, urban landscape, vermont, wire baskets0
