SHADE TREE MANAGEMENT BOARD

Press Release

Penny Garman

Treasurer - Shade Tree Management Board

973-822-0129

 

Pear Trees and More Pear Trees

 

Imagine that on a future spring day, as you drive along Main Street from the Chatham border through Madison, you see to your left and right a succession of freshly blooming pear trees.  The Madison Shade Tree Management Board and the Friends of Madison Shade Trees, with concurrence from the appropriate governing bodies and volunteer organizations, will be upgrading Madison’s main thoroughfare by continuing with the  “signature” look of Redspire pear trees.

 

In the next few months, these two organizations with the support of the Department of Public Works will be implementing this “signature” along the entire length of Madison’s Main St. In 2006 and beyond, the Shade Tree Management Board will continue planting pear trees until Main St. is completely lined.

 

In addition, as part of the downtown sidewalk renovation project, approximately 20 new 2 ˝ to 3 inch caliper Redspire pear trees will be planted in the renovated area.  As you travel along Main St. through downtown, you may notice orange “X’s” painted on the large pear trees.  These older trees were to be replaced over the next 3-5 years but will now be replaced as part of the new sidewalk project.

 

While the Shade Tree Management Board would have preferred that these existing pear trees remain in place until the newly planted trees had reached the second story height of buildings, we concluded that the old pear trees should be removed at this time for a number of reasons:

 

·       They are in varying stages of deterioration – most of the larger trees have already lost limbs.

·       Their lives would, in all probability, be shortened by damage to their roots during the sidewalk construction.

·       Their removal at a later date would require re-working a portion of the new sidewalks and would therefore increase the disruption to merchants and shoppers at an additional cost to the taxpayers.

 

One may ask, “is it wise to plant one specific variety of tree along the entire length of Main Street?”  Professional tree experts have told us this is not a problem.  There is no known disease that attacks the Redspire pear (Pyrus Calleryana Redspire).  Experience suggests that planting alongside of a main thoroughfare shortens the life of any tree variety, so we could not expect any tree to live more than 30 to 40 years in these locations regardless of variety.  To ensure species diversity, the Shade Tree Management Board does select a variety of trees for its regular planting program on residential streets throughout Madison.

 

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