City of Easton, Urban Forestry

As we brace for Winter's, not so gentle knocking at the door during the next couple of days, please keep in mind those ornamental evergreens you may have on your property. Depending on the type of snowfall we get, the weight of snow can be very damaging if not completely destroy some of our favorite trees. As the snow falls and starts to build up on these more vulnerable trees, you should periodically go outside and gently shake the tree to keep excessive snow from build...ing up. I even had a hybrid Redbud, which I now realized was poorly designed, called 'The Rising Sun', the branching is so dense that the branch unions during heavy snowfalls and even rains have separated and snapped the whole branch away from the main trunk. So keep this in mind if you have a special specimen evergreen or smaller ornamental tree, shake them periodically but gently to keep them free of all the extra weight!

Tree work is scheduled along the 1200 block of Northampton Street to the end of the 1400 block. We are only pruning trees that were part of a City revitalization program when those trees were planted in/around 2009-11. The trees will have their lowest branches removed to make clearance for parking/street sweepers and sidewalk clearance. There will be no parking along both sides of this stretch for Friday 12/11 and Monday 12/14, from 8 am until 4:30 pm, this excludes along the front of Paxinosa Elementary School. Please be aware and make other arrangements for parking during this time period and thanks for your patience!

Update on City wide tree work that has been taking place this year; 1) Two mature dead ash trees have been removed from the hedgerow along the parking lot of Bob Rute Ball Field/Hackett Park. 2) Mature Dead Norway maple removed from the Triangle at Wood Ave/ 10th Street/Spring Garden Streets. 3) Dead Red Oak removed from Nevin Park along with additional pruning on other mature oaks near Tennis Courts along E. Lafayette Street. Mature dead Austrian pine removed next to Nevin P...Continue reading

I am thankful to report that even though we had a lengthy disruption due to the pandemic this season, we were still able to accomplish planting a total of around 91 trees throughout Easton. These were a mix of all different sizes and species in our Parks mostly, but just this week we were able to get 30 Street trees in! To all those Easton residents that are so supportive of the continued efforts we make with our Urban Forestry Program and for that matter the constant need ...for increasing the green cover throughout the City, I Thank you for your support and the vision we share. Sadly, on a not so positive note, there are residents of Easton, that do not want, nor like trees in the least. To give you a general idea on what one tree costs the City to plant from start to finish , this comes at a cost of about $400.00. After Street trees are planted and I am sure many of you have seen me driving around keeping these trees watered in Summer, pruning them up as they grow etc, I continue to see several trees "mysteriously" perish at the same locations. Coincidentally these residents have also made it known how much they dislike trees and in some cases I have moved the tree planting location to a neighboring property and the tree has still been killed, not only once but twice. Not only is it very unusual for a young tree within less than a year to die but for this to happen at the same locations 2 and 3 time, is unheard of ! This costs the City and ultimately the tax payer up to $1,200.00 in some cases for those that have been successful in killing their tree 3 times. In light of this ongoing issue, next year I will impose a new requirement after a Street tree is planted. If I determine that a new tree has been intentionally killed this $400.00 replacement fee will now be passed on to the legal property owner. With over 30 years experience as a gardener and working in nature, it is very easy for one with the trained eye and experience to determine why a tree has spontaneously perished when shortly before it was in perfect health. Plants/trees leave signs behind as to why they died, making these mysteries easily solved. If you, as an Easton resident, have any additional ideas to help me combat this needless assault on innocent trees I am all ears. In all fairness to the whole of Easton residents I feel this is a shared issue as many of you live in and around these newly planted trees and have called me reporting of these tree deaths. What I need from you, is to help act as a " Tree Advocate" as my eyes cannot be everywhere all the time. I have also started to add weather proof tags to any newly planted street trees, only to educate those that are not aware of the Shade Tree Ordinance rules and violations as this comes with a minimum of a $300.00 fine. I am hoping as we go into 2021, this issue of intentionally destroying trees will become a thing of the past and we can focus on topics deserving of our attention.

Here is an updated article put out by Penn State in reference to all types of methods to remove Spotted Lanternfly egg casings. Keep in mind for every female Spotted Lanternfly that is not destroyed by late Summer of each year, she will produce up to 80 more nymphs the following year! https://news.psu.edu//penn-state-experts-address-what-shou

Additional Tree plantings added within Hugh Moore Park. Through Grant funding we received through the TreeVitalize program/Tree Pennsylvania, we received 20 Bare Root trees last week that were planted in several areas in Hugh Moore Park. The trees will help strengthen the riparian buffer and at to the successional plantings as older trees at risk for failing are being removed and others falling in past storms. The trees are all native species which include, Hackberry, Silve...r Maple, Red Maple, Winter King Hawthorne and Sweetgum, they thrive in low lying areas and will provide numerous benefits to the local ecosystem. These were sizable trees with a 1.5"-2" caliper and as tall as 15'. The trees will all be protected from deer with the installation of trunk guards , these will also protect the smoother barked trees from Winter Scald. They will be staked for 1-2 years until they develop a stronger root system and of course mulched to add for some good insulation as Winter sets in. In your travels down to the Park take a look at the new trees which are planted in the Bike course area, along the canal just before the boat launch area and a few just beyond the Lock Tender's house along the river side. A special thanks to Ron Vail and Park Ranger, Chris Szarko, the staff at Hugh Moore Park for their help in planting all these trees and assisting me in picking them up. The guys have a lot of space to cover and always make time to help me plant trees! If you connect with them while visiting the Park, please thank them for being Steward's of a special place we all can enjoy along the Lehigh. I myself could not do this alone and am grateful for their help!

As we continue to add Street trees to our Urban canopy, I am on the constant lookout for new and interesting varieties that will work in each unique planting situation. Here are some new Hybrids ( listed below) that will be planted this Fall and moving ahead. Taking into consideration the interests of residents, as I give each person a list of around 6 options to chose from that will work in their planting location, using trees that are less damaging in the long run to infr...astructure, have a more refined growth habit, which which also create a much lower need for extensive pruning of a wide canopy and trees that are not large species, which in the past have been planted in much too small of a tree well. Larger species trees will still be planted but in a minimum sized tree well of 16 square feet. Diversity, insect and disease resistance, infrastructure friendly, environmentally beneficial and utility line friendly are just the obvious hurdles we need to tackle when choosing the right tree for the right location. Keep in mind the amount of water a tree captures within its canopy, bark surface and root system, this is a vital aspect of why we need as many trees within an Urban setting as possible, with more intense and frequent storms, storm water runoff, which causes severe erosion, is a huge concern. Here are some of the trees you can search online for and if you have a request for one one of them to be planted along the front of your street please contact me and you will be added to the list. If you have a tree in mind other than those listed on our approved tree list within our Shade Tree Ordinance and those I will mention here, I am always open to investigating them and seeing if they will work in your location. 1) Paperbark Maple- Acer griseum 2) Green Pillar Oak- Quercus palustris 'Pringreen' Green Pillar 3) Regal Prince Oak- Quercus x warei 'Long' Regal Prince 4) Crimson Spire Oak- Quercus crimschmidt 'Crimson Spire' 5) Royal Burgundy Cherry - Prunus serrulata 'Royal Burgundy' 6) Crimson Sentry Maple- Acer platanoides 'Crimson Sentry' 7) Musashino Zelkova- Zelkova serrata 'Musashino' 8) Galaxy Dogwood- Cornus x rutgersensis ' Celestial' 9) Stellar Pink Dogwood- Cornus 'Rutgan' Stellar Pink 10) Slender Slihouette Sweet Gum- Liquidambar styraciflua ' Slender Silhouette' 11) Judy Zuk Magnolia- Magnolia x brooklynensis ' Judy Zuk' 12) Japanese Tree Lilac- Syringa reticulata ' Ivory Silk' 13) Regal Petticoat Sycamore Maple - Acer pseudoplatanus 'Tunpetti' I will leave you with a link to view the 'Judy Zuk' Magnolia https://jcra.ncsu.edu//photogr/results-botanical-name.php