Earlier this year, the Arbor Day Foundation designated the Village of Manorhaven a Tree City USA. As lead members of the village’s Tree Committee, Deputy Mayor Priscilla von Roeschlaub and longtime Manorhaven resident and master gardener Patricia Valente led this effort. The Arbor Day Foundation recently sent a Tree City USA sign that will soon be posted near one of the entrances to the nature preserve.
The village had planned to plant native trees in the preserve in the spring, but the project was postponed due to the COVID-19 quarantine. On Sept. 23, more than 30 trees were planted in the Preserve, including oaks, elms, hackberries, tulip, birch and sweetgum. While these larger trees are not suitable for the smaller lot sizes in the village, they are important to birds, pollinators and other beneficial insects.
An educational sign will be installed in the coming weeks to educate visitors to the Preserve about the many ecological benefits of trees from cleaner air and water to the well being of all who walk in green spaces.
“The preserve is quickly becoming very full of plant life in so many different forms,” Manorhaven Mayor Jim Avena said. “It is beautiful in every season, but once these newly planted trees blossom in the spring, it will be truly remarkable. Our next phase for village trees starts this winter when we begin selecting species that thrive well in our local environment.”
New tree plantings will initially focus on areas of the Village that suffered extensive tree loss during and following Superstorm Sandy and other storms that followed. Because the Arbor Day Foundation suggests ‘the right tree for the right place,’ the village’s Tree Committee is identifying the right trees for the local climate and those that do not grow rapidly or too tall or wide to avoid the from having to be severely trimmed back due to overhead wiring, pedestrians or roots that may buckle sidewalks, for example.
Avena thanked von Roeschlaub, Pat Valente and others who have helped expand the number and variety of native trees and other plantings in the village’s nature preserve. Local nonprofit organization Native Greenway continues to assist Avena and the village board in its efforts to beautify the village and support the local ecosystem through the introduction and expansion of native plants and trees. The project began in 2018 through the Long Island Native Plant Garden in the Manorhaven Nature Preserve. This latest community-wide tree effort is an expansion of that effort that will continue to make Manorhaven even more beautiful.
—Submitted by the Village of Manorhaven
