Free Trees: How to Get Them for Your Sidewalk

"Studies show that greenery in residential environments can improve property values," says Clemson University horticulture professor Dr. Judith Calbwell. "Trees can establish a sense of place, distinguishing your neighborhood from another neighborhood. They're associated with an upscale quality of life. Where there are urban trees, people are more inclined to gather outside and interact with each other, and that plays into making friends, feeling more connected, building community."

There are two ways to get a sidewalk tree. The simplest is to get a free one from the city. Your print out a form, available online here , and mail that to your local Community Board, which twice a year submits requests to the Parks Department. You can also fill out and submit the form online.

The other method, which costs some money but is quicker and gives you more control, is to get a tree permit from your Borough Forestry Office and do a private planting, using your choice of city-approved landscape contractors. If there's not already a tree pit in the spot you want — left over, perhaps, from some long-gone bit of arbor — you'll also need a permit from the city's Department of Transportation (DOT), and to follow their digging guidelines.

Carol Cocozzella went the first route when her small co-op at 140 Claremont Avenue, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights, sought two trees. A board member when she spearheaded the effort in 2001, she says that after receiving board approval, she filled out the form, had it signed by the board president and sent it to Community Board 8. "I did have to stay on top of it with the Parks Department," she notes, but the co-op did get its trees planted after only about 15 months.

The Manhasset, a 120-unit, block-long co-op at 300 West 108th and 300 West 109th Streets in Manhattan, went the do-it-yourself route. Here a Parks Department inspector makes an onsite visit and gives on-the-spot approval if there are no preempting conditions such as street signs, underground utilities, low wires, building entrances, light posts and the like. On some streets, depending on traffic patterns, a tree can't be too close to a corner where it might obstruct turning vehicles. Then-board president Joanne L. Sliker recalls, "It took six months from the time we submitted the application."

Once you're approved, says Sliker, "you prepare bid documents, bid it," with at least three city-approved landscape contractors. Your chosen contractor "purchases the tree, cuts out [a tree pit from the] concrete, removes the soil and puts in structural soil." This is a loose type conducive to letting your tree's all-important root system grow and get adequate water, nutrients and oxygen. "Then he plants the tree, and in our case followed up with the fabrication of a pit guard" — those metal barriers you see ringing tree pits to help prevent vehicle damage and to discourage dogs, whose waste can contain harmful parasites and pathogens.

"If you're not willing to pay for tree guards, it's not worth the process" warns Cocozzella. "A car rammed into one of our metal guards," she says by way of example. "If we hadn't had it, the tree would've been gone."
Sliker estimates that the total cost for the Manhasset's three trees and guards, installed, was about $12,000.

From Tiny Acorns…

Trees pretty much raise themselves, but young trees need a certain amount of attention and care.

The most important component: proper watering. Most young trees die from underwatering (rain alone isn't enough) but some are even done in by overwatering. Different species of trees need different amounts of water — you can find books and online lists galore with specs for each — but generally, young trees need a good, thorough soaking once a week. This means having your super, porter or garden committee water it with a hose for about five minutes, giving the water a chance to seep deep into the soil. But: Designate one person or committee, and don't let anyone else water it or you might kill it with kindness.

Don't stack garbage bags in the tree pit, and keep sidewalk salt away. Install a sign asking dog-walkers not to let Fido do his business there; some buildings plant a flower bed to discourage dog feces, although that means making sure the type of flora you choose doesn't have a root system incompatible with your tree's.

The Parks Department — which takes ownership of the tree after the landscaper's one-year warranty expires — handles pruning, but you can get a Parks permit to hire a professional arborist.

Is the whole process worth it? "Oh, my God, yes!" says Sliker. "Definitely worth the work."

Echoes Cocozzella: "Oh, yes! Oh, my gosh, the building looks so much better; the trees enhance the building so much. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Illustration by Paul Corio

Adapted from Habitat March 2007. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>