Bronx, NY ADM Landscape Corp., a full-service design, build and maintenance landscaping firm, received approval from NYC Parks Forestry to remove 20 wild-grown, city-owned “weed trees,” including the noxious and invasive Tree of Heaven. The street trees occupied a city right-of-way area adjacent to a construction site at 550 Nereid Ave., where a storage facility is being built. Although the site had been fallow for many years, the NYC Department of Parks Foresters calculated the 20 weed trees to be valued, collectively, at $365,000. The developer of the storage facility was mandated to either pay the sizable restitution to the to NYC Parks or replace the 20 street-trees with 166 commonly planted varieties on targeted streets within a half-mile of the construction site, across the northeast Bronx County.
“The NYC Parks & Recreation Central Forestry division that manages, cares for, and has jurisdiction over the city’s trees, requires property owners and developers to pay for any street trees they plan to remove or else replace them, which is fair,” said Andy DiMarino, president, ADM Landscape Corp. “The original estimate was unexpectedly high, but we managed to find solutions agreeable to the pertinent city agency, while benefiting the surrounding neighborhood and dramatically cutting costs. By the time the job was finished, we had saved our clients $105,000!”
After negotiating with the NYC Parks Forestry on behalf of its client, ADM received the permit to remove the weed trees in late February 2021. Faced with the daunting task of sourcing acceptable trees species in the middle of winter, the ADM Landscape team was able to locate them at several nurseries around the state. They chose ornamental shade and flowering trees recognized for their attractive flowering and verdant foliage, with known robustness for challenging planting conditions. Other desirable qualities include stormwater run-off capacity and air pollution amelioration. Among the selected species were the Japanese Zelkova, Flowering Japanese Kwanzan, Yoshino Cherry, Hawthornes, Sweet Gums, and Pin Oak. Within eight weeks, the trees were delivered, and by mid-May the ADM team had them planted in tree pit and lawn strip locations designated by the city forester.
For the final steps, ADM retained the services of consulting arborist Carsten Glaesar, Ph.D to serve as technical advisor to ensure compliant installations, track the progress of the operation, and advise on the individual post installations tree care, such as irrigation. A comprehensive tree installation tracking spreadsheet was then submitted to the overseeing NYC Parks forester, confirming the completion of the project. The ADM team received the final sign off from the forester on June 15th, 2021, triggering the 24-month tree warranty period.
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