Tuesdays Tornadoes Killed Thousands of Trees (Let's keep ours alive)

Check out this article from the NY Times about the devastation tornadoes caused to thousands of New York City trees (not to mention one woman and many cars). Doesn't it make you want to make sure that our Bard Yard trees thrive to take their place? Click here for the article and pictures.

The 2010 Bard Yard--Lush and Elegant

I went to water last week and the stars must have been aligned because the gate to the yard was open when I got there and Kristie gave me a tour and explanation of the new sprinkler system. Kristie had drip-watered 2 or 3 of the trees while she worked in the office before I got there, so I started where she left off.

It looked as though Sonia and/or Kristie had done some weeding as well as watering since I'd peeked last Monday. A few of the trees still had some yellow leaves, but less than they did last week. The cherry tree doesn't look so great though. I gave it a good watering, but the soil around the tree looked moist before I started. Maybe the problem is that it's outgrowing it's container.

The garden looks beautiful. I loved the garden last year in all of it's patchwork of containers, but this year the new trees really pull everything together with more elegance. Here are some pictures:



I also took pictures of things in the garden I found interesting, including several to show alternate ways our trees are getting water in addition to the sprinkler system or directly from the hose.

Here is one of our TreeGators still full from last week's watering. Notice the squash-like vine behind it...

and in front of it. The theory is that these plants have sprouted from our compost.

Tim rigged up the plastic sheeting to direct more water spray from the sprinkler system to some of the tree beds. Another large viney plant has crowded into this bed.

Tim is also experimenting with these less visible screens. The automatic sprinkler spray goes right through them, but I'll bet these are helpful in directing soft to medium rainfall toward the beds.

Sonia's taking care of this plant that is growing in this crack in the curb.

I found this chewed up gourd-like thing on the ground. My guess is that it's a baby watermelon from one of the compost vines. It makes sense that watermelon seeds from a student's lunch ended up in the compost.

Here's a monster of a weed that I pulled up.

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!

Sprinkler System Schematic

Here is the schematic plan and timing schedule for the sprinkler system. Thanks to Tim for figuring this out and setting it up.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for The Trees

Our garden and the new trees were celebrated on the afternoon of May 1st! Here is the invitation that was extended to the community from BHSEC Special Projects Manager, Kristi Powell:

"Please come to our 2nd annual BHSEC Neighborhood Festival which is co-sponsored by State Sen. Daniel Squadron's office and our neighboring Tenants Associations. This year, along with featuring our Early College Academy program, we will be celebrating our new grove of trees, and thanking the NYRP/Million Trees organization with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Mr. Peterson was the main force in obtaining our beautiful grove of trees, so of course, we will also acknowledge his leadership, especially on this project. We will also thank and acknowledge our parent Garden Committee for all their hard work beautifying the yard, and our ECO Club and BSAN members for their dedication to the environment, and for raising awareness among the student body."

There was music, dance and food. Glenn Healy and students from his World Drumming class performed.

Tim, Dean Lerner, and Kristi chatting near the delicious buffet. Thanks to Roberto Napoleon the President of the Baruch Tenants Association and El Maguey Y La Tuna Mexican Restaurant (321 Houston St.) who provided the delicious food to offer our guests.

Karen Hatch (me) and Sonia Laudi after we walked through the Lillian Wald Houses to invite more neighbors. We were happy to see that many of them came with their children.

Tim, Sonia, and BHSEC English teacher and Eco Club advisor Elizabeth Poreba talk to K. Ozgem Ornektekin, Director of Sustainability, NYC DoE Division of School Facilities. Making sure that the life of the garden is sustainable has been very much on the minds of the Garden Committee members. We are trying to work out the best method of watering the trees using the new sprinklers which we were able to buy with the Lowe's grant. Ms. Poreba is helping us to get students involved in this.

BHSEC Principal Ray Peterson started the ceremony and thanked all involved in the transformation of the yard. It was Ray's idea to approach Million Trees last spring (or was it summer?) and he followed through relentlessly. It's amazing that this all happened so fast. Here's a link to a past Watering Report entry that shows the ugly, overgrown and condemned jungle gym that the trees replaced.

Representing NY Restoration Project, Faisal Al-Juburi, Vice President, MillionTreesNYC, spoke

followed by Assemblymember Brian Kavanaugh, of Assembly District 74, and

State Senator Daniel Squadron, who gave an inspiring speech about how the Bard community should be proud not only for the school's academic achievements, but also because they are a part of the long and very interesting history of the Lower East Side--appropriately, a place where pioneers and immigrants arrive to do their best and make their mark on the world. (That was my interpretation of what he said anyway!)

BHSEC Garden Committee instigator and inspirator Sonia Laudi joined them in cutting the ribbon to officially "open" the BHSEC grove.

Kristi gave them thank-you gifts and

the group posed for pictures.

And then the audience kept their cameras out to take pictures of the amazing BHSEC Step Team.

Thanks to everyone involved in this fun celebration and lest I leave anyone out I am copying Kristi's list of additional people to mention here:

Kaity Tsui, MillionTreesNYC Education & Tree Care Coordinator - AmeriCorps
K. Ozgem Ornektekin, Director of Sustainability, NYC DoE Division of School Facilities
Luther Stubblefield, VP, Baruch Tenants Assoc.; helped coordinate neighboring community based organizations and tenants associations
Roberto Napoleon, Pres., Baruch Tenants Assoc.; donated the cooked food
Rosemarie Diaz, Sen. Squadron's Community Liaison
El Maguey Y La Tuna Mexican Restaurant, 321 Houston St, for food donation
Fernando Azevedo, BHSEC parent who photographed event
Glenn Healy, BHSEC Drumming teacher
Ben Rubenstein, BHSEC Step Team Advisor and math teacher

Thanks to Kristi too!

If you are interested in seeing how beautiful our garden was last summer click here.

Sprinkler Test

Last Friday six members of the BHSEC Garden Committee met to try out the new sprinkler equipment that had arrived. The main purpose was to check out the trajectory to see how many tree beds one sprinkler could adequately water and thereby know how many more sprinklers we needed to order. It was a very chilly day, but several people gamely got wet in the service of the garden.

I have posted the pictures below to remind everyone how and where the water fell to help in planning the placement of the sprinkler heads and hoses.

Tying the hose

The sprinkler head

Aiming the spray (southwest corner)

Heavy coverage from the southwest sprinkler (a good spot to place lots of potted plants)

This bed barely got any water. The puddle bypassed it.

Longshot looking toward northwest corner of yard

The Secret of Getting Students to Use the Garden

BHSEC student use of The Bard Yard has been a regular topic of conversation every time garden committee members get together. Reports of how many were seen, in which section, and what exactly they were doing always comes up whenever we meet.

This year there is more of everything to draw people toward the yard--more shade, more seats, and more flowering plants. But I heard something through the grapevine that really indicates to me that the students will be using the garden more than ever--there is a wifi hotspot somewhere on the Mangin Street side!