Shade Tree Commission Gears up for Spring

Despite the fact that Puxotony Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, the Shade Tree Commission is feverishly planning for the upcoming spring. All plans for spring planting, tree-trimming, education, and spring festivities are moving forward without a hitch. 

Months ago, the Shade Tree Commission filled out a resolution to apply for a Federal Stimulus Grant, and it was just recently approved. The federal government agreed to supply a $7,000 grant to fund tree trimming within the Bernards Township. The monies will be available to the commission on April 1. The state government lobbied for this grant as a part of the economic stimulus for towns to spend up to $7,000 for tree-trimming.

Spring Festivities

New Jersey Arbor Day is always scheduled on the last Friday in April, which correlates to being April 30 this year. Consequently, the Shade Tree Commission decided to hold the Arbor Day Dedication Ceremony on the preceding Saturday, May 1 at 10 in the morning. [Editor's Note: The celebration was moved to April 24 to coincide with the dedication of Sons of Liberty Park.]

A Liberty Elm Tree was ordered to be planted a few weeks before the ceremony at the Sons of Liberty Farm. And a plaque describing the Liberty Elm will be placed on a rock in front of the new tree in honor of Arbor Day. 

The commission also filled out an application to be a Tree City USA, a program part of the Arbor Day Foundation that provides guidance and national recognition for forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities. This will be the fifth consecutive year that Bernards Township is a Tree City USA.

Another upcoming celebration that the Shade Tree Commission will be involved in is Charter Day on May 15th. The Shade Tree will have a booth at the festivities and, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the town, will be giving away free four foot trees! Tulip trees, sweetgum, pitch pine, and poplar oak will be all available for the taking, as well as valuable brochure information on spring and fall planting. 

Education Report 

The description of the London Planetree was updated on the Tree Map list on the Bernards Township website describing "20 Trees in Basking Ridge". A list providing a description of each tree accompanies a map that indicates where these trees are located within the town.

Also, the commission is looking to improve the tree identification tags posted on trees throughout town. Due to constriction from the cold and tree growth, some of these ID's have been pushed out of the bark. Jack Gray states, "as the tree grows the bark moves outward and the spring in the wood compresses. Some trees like the White Pine on Oak St. which grow pretty fast, they're almost at their limit so they need to be replaced."  By putting in stainless steel screws with lags, the lag will be able to be moved back as the tree grows.  

Additionally, Gray created a new list of trees native to Bernards Township for builders to use as a reference when constructing new developments. The old list was full of exotic, or non-native trees, that were invasive to the forestal habitat in the town. While these exotic trees were initially chosen because of lack of diseases or insect damage, the native birds and insects don't get any sustenance from them. Therefore, the new list of approved trees contains only natives that builders can buy from local nurseries. Gray separated the list into two groups: tall trees that can be built anywhere and smaller trees that can be built under wires. The Shade Tree Commission is sending this list to engineering to be approved and then it will be posted on the website.

Spring Planting 

Frank Howlett, the principal of Ridge High School, is planning on meeting with the Shade Tree to discuss the twelve or so trees that will be planted between the planters all the way across the Ridge High School parking lot. Even though the Shade Tree advocates biodiversity in planting, Jack Gray recommends that all of the trees planted at the high school should be of the same species in order to show uniformity. They also plan on planting several of the same species of tree off to the side so that if one of the new trees dies or gets damaged, a new tree of the same species and height will be able to replace it.  

There are about 24-27 trees scheduled to be planted this spring. The new trees for the high school are scheduled to be planted around or during the week of the high school's spring break in April. There are also a number of trees promised to the town to replace trees that were removed, and the Veteran's Affair's Hospital will also be getting a row of new trees along Valley Road.