Susan Labandibar – Activist CEO

Running Tech Networks – Saving the Planet

Dead Trees in Boston

with 8 comments

I’m trying to figure out why I keep seeing so many dead trees on the street.  Can someone help me out here?  I took some photos of trees along my dog-walking route a few weeks ago.  Here’s the route:

View South Boston Street Trees in a larger map
There are three dead or dying trees on G Street. Here are the photos:

104 G Street

I’m not sure what’s going on, but it seems much worse this year. Young trees, even trees over twenty years old, are dying at an incredible rate. What does the Parks Department think? It looks like most of the street trees they are planting are not surviving. How will we ever reach the City’s 100,000 tree goal?

[del.icio.us] [Digg] [Reddit] [Technorati] [Email] More »

Written by Susan

May 30th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

Posted in Uncategorized, environment, news

Tagged with ,

« The Car-Free CEO Club
My Dad and the Orangutans »

8 Responses to 'Dead Trees in Boston'

Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Dead Trees in Boston'.

  1. Hi Susan,

    I’m with a local TV station and I’m interested in talking to you about this story. Can you email me? I’ve included my email address in the head of the comment.

    Thanks

    John

    31 May 09 at 9:13 am

  2. Have you noticed any small green caterpillars hanging off some of the trees? It’s had to tell exactly from the photos, but some of the trees look like they were stripped by the leaf-eating winter moth caterpillars. If that’s the case, the might not be dead & will grow a new set of leaves in time.

    fignaz

    31 May 09 at 12:03 pm

  3. I think the Boston Tree Warden would love to see your map and would appreciate a call. I don’t have his email but I do have his phone. (617) 635.7275

    I’ll forward your link to the Parks Department and see if they can get it to him.

    Thanks for all the work you put into this and for the alert for all of us.

    Penny

    31 May 09 at 2:36 pm

  4. One more thing, see if you can get folks to water the trees. That’s important and we were low on water this month. That could be a factor.

    Here’s the city link on how we can care for street trees.

    http://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/streettrees/current_tips.asp

    Penny

    31 May 09 at 2:38 pm

  5. Possibly due to winter damage. There were some very extreme cold snaps this winter, and I’ve seen several trees that budded out slowly or only partially. Trees that were in already marginal locations may have suffered.

    John Doe

    1 Jun 09 at 9:00 am

  6. I also have dead trees over in Oak Square in Brighton. Looks like bugs perhaps? The leaves look like they are being eaten. I put in a “tree request” through the number listed by Penny to have someone come out and investigate. I am no ecologist, but the trees affected seem to be a mix of species.

    Katie

    2 Jun 09 at 5:58 pm

  7. I believe the unusually cold nights we have experienced this spring have caused dieback of new growth on some of our trees. I think the trees will rebound from the damage and be ok in the long run.

    As far as trees dying at an alarming rate, I’m not sure that is an accurate assessment. Every spring we discover some trees haven’t made it through the winter for various reasons. This spring hasn’t shown a spike in removal requests by any means, its business as usual at the Parks department.

    I am always available if anyone has any specific questions regarding trees and can be reached at 617-635-7275.

    Greg Mosman, MCA
    City Arborist/Tree Warden
    Boston Parks and Recreation

    G Mosman

    3 Jun 09 at 8:13 am

  8. It was interesting to hear from Mr. Mosman explain that the results of some dead trees was to due “unusually cold nights.”

    Hal Shurtleff

    25 Jun 09 at 2:56 pm

Leave a Reply