Our Trees Need Watering

I heard on the news Wednesday morning that NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and the Parks Department had put out an announcement to New Yorkers to help out by watering trees in front of their businesses and residences. I'm assuming that this announcement was spurred on by the heat and shortage of rainfall this month. In looking for this announcement on the internet I also found out that MillionTreesNYC has a tree stewardship training where you can get tools and earn a permit to work on street trees. (I think high school students who need them can also earn credits.)One of our willow trees from last year. I wonder how it's doing today?

Today I'm going to follow fellow BHSEC garden committee member Sonia's dedicated lead by going in to water the trees. Wish me luck as it'll be the first time I've gone since the new automatic sprinkler system was put in. (I hope I don't mess it up!) Both Sonia and Kristie report that the trees in the yard really need extra water and some of the trees are not getting the maximum benefit from the sprinkler system so they need even more. I noticed a smattering of trees with yellow leaves when I peeked in from the sidewalk early this week. According to Trees New York, an urban forestry organization, in hot weather trees need 15-20 gallons of water a week.

I also just spotted a post on Garden Rant about gator bags being misused to mulch, not water trees in Washington D.C. Our garden committee has many experts so I know we wouldn't make this mistake, but since I'm not an gardening expert it was interesting for me to learn that you have to be careful about how you mulch trees. Trapping mulch up against the bark can encourage disease--good to know! I also like this blog in general so I thought I would share the post here and on our blogroll.

By the way if anyone out there would like to donate some TREEGATOR bags to BHSEC...THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

Big Week at Bard

There was lot going on at BHSEC this week. First, Ray Peterson announced his retirement. I heard, through my daughter, that the students gave him a huge round of applause when he announced this to them on Tuesday. They are very sad about his leaving. The Gardening Committee has a lot to thank him for (besides his school leadership). If not for him the "Bard Yard" would not look as good as it does now, or as gorgeous as it is bound to be later this spring and summer.

Second it was Parent-teacher conference week. It was my last one at Bard and I enjoyed visiting with teachers and other parents in the hallways. I saw Kristi and Susan and they both mentioned the new growth they observed in the garden.


Kristi mentioned seeing buds on the trees. Great news--they survived the winter!


And the bulbs are sprouting and flowering.


It looks like three different types of bulbs are coming up here.

The plants in this pot survived the winter too.

The moon is visible in this picture (it was about 3 in the afternoon). Can anyone out there identify trees by shape?

The Trees Have Been Planted

The trees are all in. This picture was taken last Saturday while the gardeners were still working. It's taken some teamwork and planning, but it all seems to come off without a hitch thanks to all involved.

Near the end of the planning stage, on October 21, the Bard Garden Committee met with the student group, the ECO Club. You can see where they laid out masking tape to show where the trees would eventually go.

One week later members of the ECO Club started to move the plants away from the areas where the digging and tree planting would occur.


I took these photos from Mangin Street, outside the chain link fence. You can see a number of the new trees far away on the other side of the yard.

I think the gardeners thought I was a crazy lady taking photos of them. These shots are not that picturesque and they knew it.



Looks nice! I love that the baby's breath is thriving on the stone slope next to the trees.

A parting shot of one of the chrysanthemums that were still blooming on Saturday.