Three major trees came down in Hudson today. One was a giant spruce beside 20 Union Street, which apparently was toppled by the wind and fell against the house sometime in the afternoon yesterday.
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| Photo: Sarah Sterling |
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| Photo: Sarah Sterling |
Meanwhile, in Washington Park, in front of the courthouse, two trees came down and another was severely pruned. Along the West Court Street side of the park, one of the maple trees, which regularly loses major branches during storms was cut down, and another, which lost a very large limb last Thursday was pruned.
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| Photo: Bill Huston |
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| Photo: Sarah Sterling |
On the Union Street side of the park, one of the large, ancient locusts was cut down.
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| Photo: Peter Meyer |
When the first courthouse stood on this site, there was order and pattern to the trees in the park. As the ancient trees are felled, it would be nice if there were a tree planting plan for replacing those that are lost.
COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK
Yes! Plant native trees that have beautiful flowers in the springtime: redbuds, cherry trees, and dogwoods.
ReplyDeleteThis is supposed to be the Year of the Tree in Hudson. I don't know what group made the proclamation, but it should set up a pro-active appreciation of trees by letting the public know of major tree removals (especially in public spaces) in advance, of education programs that let people know how to keep trees healthy, and by proposing local laws that would identify and protect senior citizen trees! peter m. p.s. outside of Hudson (at the lot next to McDonalds in Greenport, there was a huge old tree leveling today -- at least 10 big trees bit the dust. (Go count the stumps before they are chippered away.)
ReplyDeleteI noticed this today. It seems like we have fewer and fewer city trees. Is that correct, Carole?
ReplyDeleteA row of tulip trees in front of the courthouse similar to Tulip Tree Allée at the New York Botanical Garden would be stunning. Think big: https://www.nybg.org/planttalk/information-about-tulip-tree-allee/
ReplyDeletequite a lovely idea
DeleteThere's a large and healthy grove of Tulip Trees (Liriodendron) on the prison grounds in the ravine immediately northeast of the Dr. Oliver Bronson house (behind the homes and HPD on the south side of Union Street).
DeleteI like this idea, or something similar.
DeleteStrangely, the tree that lost the limb last week has not been taken down. I'm no tree professional or arborist, but it should have been. It is leaning too far over the street and wires, and it appears to be rotted at least where the limb came off. At the very least the tree should be pruned quite a bit more. Too many branches. Don't be surprised if the whole thing comes down soon in a strong wind. Any bets?
ReplyDeleteAnother enormous tree was removed in Hudson on Friday, a Boxelder on Partition Street in the backyard of a Union Street house. I believe it was the largest Boxelder in Hudson. Our trees are coming down at an alarming rate.
ReplyDeleteVery sad to see.
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ReplyDeleteHybrid American Chestnuts should be on your list.Also, please note that current theory holds that you should plant a different type of tree every chance you get- this so that disease doesn't take them all out at once.
ReplyDeleteThis is more suburbanization- a pretend random forest where as Carole says per the courthouse, order and repetition of species would go further to create great urban space than random plantings allowed to grow enormous with time. Norway Maples are the worst- as the photos of the hollow rotten cores show.
I doubt anyone's planting undesirable Norway Maples anymore, though they readily plant themselves.
DeleteI'd ask people not to plant decorative pear trees like the ones the Galvan Foundation formerly used (still does?) which make our outdoor spaces resemble shopping malls.
Hybrid chestnuts are welcome.
How do folks feel about catalpa trees?
DeleteGW, I'm no fan of the Catalpa, but if you must have one then please avoid the Chinese Catalpa (Catalpa ovata).
DeleteThat said, none of the Catalpas are native to this area. The Common Catalpa (C. bignonioides) hails from Alabama, and the "Northern" (C. speciosa) is from the Mississippi valley as far north as the southern tip of Indiana. (Like the troublesome and parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird, native invasives can cause plenty of ecological problems too.)
Catalpas are messy, they have brittle wood, and they crowd their neighbors. But hey, it's still a free country in which people and trees can do that.
Here's a nice gallery of photos of Tulip Tree Allee: https://www.nybg.org/blogs/plant-talk/tag/tulip-tree-allee/
ReplyDelete