Planting on Washington Avenue

calabar

Can you all encourage your owners and businesses to place a planter outside their buildings and spaces on Washington Avenue?

It's a GREEN Move - but it makes a difference...just see the merchants between Lincoln's Place and St. John's Place have started.

ben

This is a great idea. Greenery makes a huge aesthetic difference and also helps to clean the air and reduce runoff.

Also, encourage property owners to request a free street tree from the city. Bloomberg just announced that he wants to plant 100,000 trees so the city is pushing this as well. Street trees can be requested here: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/trees_greenstreets/street_tree_info.html

brooklynleather

i planted on my fire escape!

does that count?

calabar

Washington Avenue has all its trees - it had tree planting done several years ago.

Yes - all of it counts- fire escape huh?

ben

Sorry, I didn't mean to limit my comments on tree planting to Washington Ave. Property owners can get free street trees in front of any building in the neighborhood so long as they don't block signs, fire hydrants, etc.

Also, I do believe there are a few places that can still have trees on Washington where they don't exist now. The way I see it, the more the better.

violet

Subject: Trees

I asked for a tree but they said the spot outside my house was "unsuitable". I have a tree-well right there in front, but I live on Atlantic Avenue so I think that they assume the tree wouldn't survive the traffic?

ben

Subject: Re: Trees

Violet wrote: I asked for a tree but they said the spot outside my house was "unsuitable". I have a tree-well right there in front, but I live on Atlantic Avenue so I think that they assume the tree wouldn't survive the traffic?

There are a bunch of rules that they have regarding spacing of trees, proximity to crosswalks, intersections, street signs, building entrances, etc. So something may have changed since the time the previous tree was there that would now make the location unsuitable.

I don't believe they look at things like traffic but I could be wrong.

alafairnadia

Subject: Re: Trees

Violet wrote: I asked for a tree but they said the spot outside my house was "unsuitable". I have a tree-well right there in front, but I live on Atlantic Avenue so I think that they assume the tree wouldn't survive the traffic?

That totally sucks. I think your building is totally suitable for a nice tree - I know you'd take wonderful care of it.

How much do adolescent trees cost? I'd be willing to get one for your building if the cost were reasonable - you took wonderful care of my Ifa.

And yes - I think if the city won't give you a tree, you should find a way to get one anyway. This city is retarded sometimes.

ben

Subject: Re: Trees

alafairnadia wrote: [quote=Violet]I asked for a tree but they said the spot outside my house was "unsuitable". I have a tree-well right there in front, but I live on Atlantic Avenue so I think that they assume the tree wouldn't survive the traffic?

That totally sucks. I think your building is totally suitable for a nice tree - I know you'd take wonderful care of it.

How much do adolescent trees cost? I'd be willing to get one for your building if the cost were reasonable - you took wonderful care of my Ifa.

And yes - I think if the city won't give you a tree, you should find a way to get one anyway. This city is retarded sometimes.

I don't think it's a matter of paying for it. Even if you pay for it all you have to get a permit to do it. That's where their rules come in regarding suitable locations. I've never heard of them denying a tree due to cost, I think it can take a while - years even - but if the location is good you'll get one eventually.

violet

Subject: trees

Ben - I did wait almost a year after putting in the request before following up, and when I followed up it took them several weeks to come back with the "unsuitable location" judgement. I wonder if maybe it's too close to the neighboring warehouse's driveway, or something...

Alafairnadia - thank you so much for the offer. You are so sweet! I can buy a tree but I'm afraid it won't do well and then I'll feel bad... I'm going to stay home one day and track the sun and see how much sun reaches that spot out front, and then look for a hardy, fast-growing, pollution-eating tree or bush...

Or, we were thinking of putting something nice but invasive in that spot (mint, strawberries, violets, raspberries - they're all plotting together to take over our backyard! Even the forsythia has joined in and is spreading ) but a smaller plant would have it rough because of all of the trash that collects and sometimes the cars park on the sidewalk dangerously close to the tree well...

We are greening up the backyard (with the aforementioned invasive-like plants plus lilacs, blueberries, burberry, weeping butterfly bush, crocus and daffodils and tulips, peony, allium, daylilies, Russian sage and French terragon, a dwarf Alberta spruce and two other small evergreens, a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick and a Carolina Allspice, two clematis and two rose bushes, daisies and hardy geraniums and foxgloves... I just put tomato, pepper, cilantro and parsley, basil, and chive seeds down along with some larkspur and baby's breath... And there's more but I forget it all - all in a brownstone plot! I love plants) so that's something.

I did want to say that the folks at the Parks Department are pretty groovy. We wrote to ask them about an attractive plant in a street median and they wrote back to tell us what kind of plant it was. When we asked if we could take a clipping they said yes, except that the plant was grown on a different rootstock and a clipping probably wouldn't grow. But the point is, they took time to answer our email and they were very open and generous with their knowledge. I don't blame them for rejecting my tree request. I'm sure there was a reason (and maybe you'll right and eventually they'll change their mind).

Thank you again alafairnadia, for your really nice offer. If I end up able to grow something in that spot I'll try to post pictures. Hello to your kitties!