Borough’s treescape gets improvements

Garden Club committee uses grant money for trees

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield Garden Club’s Civic Beautification & Projects Committee, co-chaired by Jane Hinkel and MaryAnne McNeill, began planning to expand the treescape in the Borough of Litchfield in September 2017. A major undertaking, the scope of the project involved extending the tree canopy on East and West Streets using mature trees of significant size.

A project of this magnitude requires significant funding. In October 2017, a grant application for $50,000 was submitted to the Scherr-Thoss Foundation, with the garden club pledging an additional $4,000 from its civic fund. The grant application was approved, and funding received in December 2017.

Included in the proposal were two bids secured from local contractors. Both vendors toured the area and offered suggestions for possible planting sites and tree species.

After meetings with the Litchfield Town Engineer and Department of Public Works, Kent Greenhouse in Kent was chosen for the project.

Throughout the winter of 2017-18, site visits by staff from the Kent Greenhouse resulted in 25 possible locations for tree plantings. In March, the state Tree Warden, along with the landscape designer at the state Department of Transportation, reviewed the proposed sites and species. Approval was granted to plant 16 trees on 15 sites.

The list included: red maple (Acer rubrum), amur maple (Acer ginnala), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), three-flower maple (Acer triflorum), swamp oak (Quercus bicolor), chinquapin oak (Quercus muhlenbegii), red oak (Quercus

rubra), river birch (Betula nigra), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), dogwood (Cornus kousa) and black gum (Nyssa sylvatica).

All trees are native to the Northeast, with the exception of the triflorum maple, and will grow to varying heights from 15-75 feet.

The final step in the process was approaching the contiguous homeowners for approval as required by State of Connecticut. Once granted, tree installation began in mid-June 2018.

With seasonal care consisting of weekly watering, weed-free wells, fertilizing and mulch touchup, the trees will be deemed established and the cables removed by summer 2020.

To learn more about the Litchfield Garden Club, visit www. lit ch field garden club.org.

Litchfield Garden Club / Contributed photo A team of landscapers from Kent Greenhouse recently planted new trees on West Street in Litchfield. The project is part of a treescape improvement plan by the Litchfield Garden Club.

Litchfield Garden Club / Contributed photo A member of the landscape team from Kent Greenhouse stands by a root ball of a tree that was planted on West Street in Litchfield.