Hemlock Hating Insect: City Removes Killed Trees Along Emerald Necklace

If you've driven along Francis Parkman Drive recently you may have seen a sizable forest area clearcut by the city to remove dead trees, some of which killed by an insect that feeds by sucking sap from hemlocks. The removed trees were between the Francis Parkman Drive and Prince Street, including a hemlock grove and individual trees that were dead or failing, said Margaret Dyson, Director of Historic Parks for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. The area looks to be several hundred square feet and is visible from Francis Parkman Drive. The culprit was the hemlock woolly adelgid, which is native to east Asia, where's it not a problem because natural predators keep it in check. But on America's east coast it goes unchecked.

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Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees

William Bryant Logan, Certified Arborist, Founder and President of Urban Arborists, Inc., and Author

Thursday, June 27, 6:30–7:45pm
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building

When his company was asked to pollard trees in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, William Bryant Logan was stymied. This prompted him to research and learn this ancient way of pruning that prompts thick nests of sprouts to form on major branches. The irony here is that pollarding (and the similar practice of coppicing) had been the preeminent way in which humans had tended trees–from the last ice age to the Industrial Revolution. What would have seemed the most mundane of tasks to a villager in the Middle Ages had slipped from use, and even memory, in the twenty first century. Hear Logan speak of the many ways in which these lost ancient arts (including pruning, hazel creating living hedges, growing oak for ships) created and supported human cultures all over the world and how we once lived closely as partners with trees, as we can only hope to do again.

In the Groves: A Summer Solstice Journey

Diane Edgecomb, Storyteller, and Margot Chamberlain, Celtic Harpist

2 Sessions (select one): Friday, June 21, or Saturday, June 22, 6:30–8:30pm
Location: Hunnewell Building and Arboretum Landscape, Arnold Arboretum

Join us for an enchanting evening of Tree Myths, Songs and Summer Solstice Legends. Diane and Margot spin tales of the human connection with trees and the deep meaning we have assigned to them through the ages. This unique performance, designed specifically for the Arnold Arboretum, travels through the Arboretum with story and music. Each story is told under a different tree or among a unique collection of Arboretum plants. The program begins under a grand Cedar of Lebanon, moves into the rosaceous collection, to the oaks of Bussey Hill, then onward to Hemlock Hill, culminating with the haunting Czech legend “The Wild Woman of the Birch Grove” told amid the birches at sunset.

Deciduous Tree Identification

Laura Mele, Horticulturist, Arnold Arboretum

Thursday, June 20, 6:00–8:00pm
Location: Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum

Starting in the classroom and then moving outdoors to see live specimens, Laura Mele will introduce identification methods for deciduous trees commonly found in New England. Bring a notebook, hand lens if you have one, and plan for indoor and outdoor learning. Fee $20 member, $30 nonmember

Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

Beautify Center Street

Join you neighbors and make Centre Street look and smell amazing. We'll be planting daffodil bulbs and shrubs, and we'll spread mulch on street trees. If you can, please come with a wheelbarrow and/or a shovel. Meet at Mozart Park. RSVP to info@hydejacksonsquare.org so that we have enough coffee and breakfast snacks for you.

Coffin Wild Flower Reservation

This sanctuary is one of seven owned by the Society. Hilly woods, a brook, and 1,256 feet of sandy shore and tidal marsh make up the 177-acre sanctuary, which borders lovely Merrymeeting Bay, well-known for its diversity of waterfowl. This hike along the trails will take us through woodlands that border the east side of the bay to a large, old stand of bigtooth aspen and fascinating freshwater estuary plants that are limited to this rare habitat type. Bring binoculars if you have them; be prepared to get your feet wet! Habitat: estuary and mixed hardwood-conifer forest
Known For: freshwater estuary plants
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate

Program Code: FDT8029
Instructor: Ted Elliman, botanist and author of "Wild Flowers of New England"

Native Plants for Professionals

Join Dan Jaffe to learn about the best native plant materials available today for use in the design and landscape trades. Covering everything from plants for tough spots to specialty plants for specific habitats, this class will add a host of less-familiar native species to your plant palette. Program Code: HOR1200
Instructor: Dan Jaffe
Cosponsor: Ecological Landscape Alliance

Plane trees planted by Casey Arborway, Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Casey Arborway: Tree Planting Continues Two Years After Clearcutting

Tree by tree, sections of the Casey Arborway are being replanted. On Tuesday, resident Clay Harper noticed 21 plane trees being planted along the western section of the massive project. The plantings come two years after clearcutting of hundreds of trees around Forest Hills Station. By the time the road realignment project is completely done - current estimates put that at Spring 2018 - MassDOT says the area will have 400 more trees than when the project began. We've been following the Casey Arborway project's ups and down for years.

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Detail: Toole Square final plan

Casey Arborway Milestone: First New Trees to be Planted

Remember the winter of 2015? If the 100-plus inches of snow didn't depress you, there was the chopping down of more than a hundred trees around Forest Hills for the Casey Arborway project. Now for the good news, nature lovers: The first trees of the mammoth project will soon be planted. The Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that week after next contractors plan to start planting trees in the area where the permanent median of the Arborway will be. It was just one line in MassDOT's latest "Three-week Look-ahead," but it should bring a smile to everyone who hated seeing those 160 trees cut down.

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Peak Cherry Blossoms at Arbs

Peak cherry blossoms @ArnoldArboretum @universalhub @02130News #JamaicaPlain pic.twitter.com/CFPq2jfGAs— Rachel (@rachjournalist) May 3, 2015

Jamaica Plain writer Rachel Lebeaux took in the magnificent cherry trees blossoming at Arnold Arboretum. Most of the cherries are located in the Bradley Rosaceous Collection. It's nearest the Forest Hills gate. Here's a simple map. However, there are cherry trees in other parts of the Arboretum as well, and they're all spectacular right now.

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