a tree grows in Somerville

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

A DPW crew came to my street today and planted a little baby tree. This made me curious: how do they decide where and when to plant new trees? Anyone know?

Comments

[frederic.livejournal.com]

The DPW decides. When the tree in front of our house died, our downstairs neighbor had to write them (several times) to convince them to plant a new one which they did nearly a year later in the next cement block over.

Most blocks have trees about the same distance apart.

From my walks through the various neighborhoods in Somerville, some neighborhoods get nicer tree varietals than others.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I wonder about this too. The trees on my street are getting elderly, and they're all getting elderly together. They're mostly Oaks and Maples, and the Oaks are towering giants. I wonder what Somerville's replacement plan is for when they eventually start to go. I wish some little saplings could go in now (where there's room) so that the street isn't treeless once the current tree generation dies.

[orbitalmechanic.livejournal.com]

You can call the DPW and ask for a tree, actually. I expect it depends how big your sidewalk is--ours is so narrow we might not get one--and that probably also determines what kind of tree you can have. If this link (http://crm.4gov.net/SOMERVILLEMA/_cs/SupportSrvRqstOpen.aspx?ssessionid=&rqst=47) doesn't work, I found it by Googling for "somerville dpw plant a tree".

[dreamgirly19.livejournal.com]

isnt arbor day coming soon

[ceo]

I have this vision of running across the DPW taking down a big maple and sweet-talking them into leaving the trunk in my driveway. Of course, it'd probaby be full of nails and staples and no sawmill would go near it, never mind that I have nowhere to dry that much lumber once it's cut into boards.