Christie Van Kehrberg, co-chair of the Green Shores NYC street tree care committee, considers the best way to trim watersprouts from a Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos). Photos Georgina Young-Ellis Trees are usually taken for granted. They are beautiful, and, of course, contribute to the health of the community, but few people really think about how trees in parks and along the streets are cared for, or if they even require care at all. Because it is an overwhelming task for the Parks Department to effectively care for all the

street trees in the city, there are groups that make that job their particular business. One such volunteer group in Astoria is Green Shores NYC, an allv olunteer organization whose mission is to enliven the Astoria- Long Island City waterf ront, including caring for and advocating green spaces and public parks. Since last year, their Street Tree Care Committee, co-chaired by Christie Van Kehrberg and Dawn Henning, has been fanning out across the area to make sure street trees are healthy, watered and properly tended.

Pic 2: Green Shores President NYC Katie Ellman, Green Shores NYC Street Tree Care Committee Co-Chair Dawn Henning and Tracy Fisher, NYC Civic Corps have picked up trash from a tree bed and are now loosening the soil to help water get to the roots. Though property owners can have the city plant trees in the sidewalks in front of their property by contacting 311 or going to the Parks Department Web site, once those trees are in place, many property owners do not know how to continue to care for them. Van Kehrberg remarked that newly planted trees are especially vulnerable. She and the group keep an eye out for those trees in particular, as well as any athat have dead, damaged or diseased branches, those that look in need of watering or otherwise have an accumulation of trash and weeds around their bases. They also look for anything out of the ordinary, bark problems, for example, that may be evidence of the Asian Longhorned Beetle, which they report to the Parks Department. That said, the Street Tree Care Committee is not a group of amateurs. Though volunteers, they have all been trained in basic tree care or as “Citizen Pruners” by an organization called TreesNY (www.treesny.com), and they are licensed by the Parks Department.

Pic 3: Astoria Park Alliance Co- Chair Jules Corkery gets ready to load debris onto her bicycle for delivery to a collection site approved by the Parks Department. Van Kehrberg became passionate about tree care when she attended a talk given by MillionTreesNYC, an initiative whose goal is “to plant and care for one million new trees across the city’s five boroughs over the next decade”, and learned that new trees tend not to get watered regularly. She volunteered to water some of them, and the organization introduced her to the TreesNY Citizen Pruner’s workshops. After that, Katie Ellman, president of Green Shores NYC, asked her to organize a group to go out pruning. Van Kehrberg did so, and soon afterwards she and her group went out with a rolling cart filled with tools and signs on it announcing their name. She commented that they get a lot of feedback from people walking by, people who are interested in what they’re doing, who stop to talk and ask questions.

Van Kehrberg stressed that once a person is licensed, they don’t need permission from a property owner to tend to a tree, as long as that tree is located on the sidewalk. Once the Parks Department plants a tree, she stated, even though requested by a property owner, that tree becomes the responsibility of the Parks Department. She said she is always heartened to see evidence of tree care by property owners so her group can concentrate their efforts on other trees. She also mentioned that Citizen Pruners can care for trees in city parks as well, but need the permission of the Forester of that park to do so. (Exceptions are Central Park and Prospect Park, as they are cared for by their own conservancies.)

The Street Tree Care Committee goes out every third Saturday of the month to tend trees between April and October, as trees go dormant in the winter. Last year, they particularly focused on trees near parks, such as the street trees along Broadway approaching Socrates Sculpture Park, in order to enhance people’s experience as they approach the park, according to Van Kehrberg. She mentioned that the group tends to give public thoroughfares a priority to give passersby an awareness of street trees, adding, “We hope that as we become known, that if people notice street trees that need simple care, they will call on us.”

In addition to organizing street tree care outings, the committee presents activities in the parks to promote awareness of the benefits of trees, and it collaborates with other interested parties to encourage the long-term care of the urban forest. A free clinic on building guards for street trees will be presented on Saturday, March 6, from 10 a.m. to noon, by BrooklynShade at Build It Green, 3-17 26th Ave, and a free street tree care workshop will be held Thursday, April 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Greater Astoria Historical Society. The first work day for street tree care by the committee is set for Saturday, April 17. To become involved in the Green Shores NYC Street Tree Care Committee, or to request that they come and examine a tree, visit GreenShoresNYC.org and click on Tree Care or e-mail greenshoresnyc@ yahoo.com.