To the Editor:
The Audrey Hochberg Nature Preserve at the Scarsdale Library Pond recently had a face-lift. After surveying trees flanking the driveway leading to Olmsted Road and along the pathway down to the pond, arborist Michael Marks put his crew to work. The two and a half hours of expert pruning was a gift to the community from Almstead Tree and Shrub Care Company. The view of the Library Pond was enhanced by elevating the profile (removing lower branches) of the red oak in the middle of the lawn and of several other trees.
Several members of the board of Friends of the Scarsdale Parks had the good fortune to walk with Marks as he reviewed the landscape with a critical eye. The diversity of trees, many of which were planted in memory of beloved Scarsdalians, included: American elm, a variety of maples, Japanese weeping cherry trees, a dawn redwood and river birches. Recommended pruning consisted of removal of dead wood and suckers, crossing branches, and a general shaping, particularly for the younger trees planted more recently.
Michael Marks had some good advice for homeowners. Trees should be pruned regularly for three reasons: safety (removal of dead and diseased limbs prevents ice and wind damage), health (removal of suckers, daeadwood and crisscrossing limbs enables a tree to grow freely and allows sunlight to better reach leaves) and aesthetics.
Trees should be professionally inspected at least every two years, preferably when in leaf. He stressed that flowering trees should be shaped annually for their first five years to realize their ideal structure. Bountiful blooms will be ensured for the following year if the trees are shaped right after the flowers have faded. The branches of maples should not be cut when the spring sap is running; they can be pruned from fall through February or in mid-summer.
After asking my FOSP board to OK my idea and getting Eric Gerringer's approval, I got Almstead Tree Care Co., my own pruning company, to donate its services. They were glad to help out; it took close to three hours of work. The devastating storm in March saw Almstead very busy in our village with all the uprooted trees on provate properties and they wished to give back to us all.
Thank you for brining this information on tree awareness to Scarsdalians. And we all owe thanks to a generous tree company.
Jeannie Baubion Mackler
Lenox Place
Text taken from the Scarsdale Inquirer, June 2010
