Monday, September 21, 2015

How It Happened

Yesterday, Gossips published a picture received from a reader showing damage to the tree at 544 Warren Street. Today, thanks to information from other readers, the story of how this happened can be told.


The tree was a casualty of what seems to have been a rather dramatic traffic accident that occurred on Friday, involving a car and a pickup truck. The car, which ended up on the sidewalk, dealt a glancing blow to the tree before coming to rest under the awning in front of The Barlow. All this happened not in the dead of night when the streets are deserted but in the middle of the day, around lunchtime. Let's be careful out there.
COPYRIGHT 2015 CAROLE OSTERINK

6 comments:

  1. Do any tree people out there know what the best thing to do is when something like this happens. This recently happened to one of the newly planted trees on State Street. When I was a kid, people would use tar on it. Anyone know how best to protect the tree?

    ReplyDelete
  2. This tree appears to be a Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), native to the central US and used in urban settings everywhere because it's fairly indestructible (a good thing in this case). This tree will survive with no additional special care.

    However, the New York Flora Atlas considers the Honey Locust to be a "non-native" species:

    http://newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1425

    For several reasons (not least of which are aesthetic), it may be preferable to start using hearty native species in our urban plantings.

    I believe that grants from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's Urban and Community Forestry Program no longer pay for non-native species.

    But to urban trees of any variety: do be careful out there!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Contact Cornell Coop Extension office. North of Hudson on 66.
    http://www.ccecolumbiagreene.org/ or Pondside Nursery or The Secret Gardener about what to do.


    Phone: 518-622-9820
    Fax: 518-622-0115

    ReplyDelete
  4. off hand - i think the old approach was tar or paint - i believe the new approach is not to do anything

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's right. This tree will be fine if you do nothing.

      Delete