Norwich has many beautiful tree-lined streets, with maples, oaks, elms, crabapples and ashes towering over our streets and sidewalks. In an effort to add to our urban forest, the City of Norwich Street Tree Committee has secured a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Community Urban Forestry Grant Program to plant 30 more street trees in City tree lawns over the next year.
The Street Tree Committee will be planting trees in tree lawns, the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb. New trees will add to the diversity of species already in the City. The NYSDEC grant targets a few streets in Norwich that are especially tree deprived: Cortland, Henry, Pleasant, Gold, Burr, Hale, Division, Canasawacta, Elm and West Main Street and portions of North and South Broad streets. If you do not live on one of these streets, you can still submit an application and your address will be put into a lottery. More trees may be planted in the future and your address will be kept on file for the next round if you do not receive a tree this spring.
To qualify for a tree you must: have a tree lawn planting location of at least 4 feet wide by 4 feet long, have a planting location that is more than 15 feet away from an intersection and 10 feet from hydrants, light poles, signs etc., and agree to care for your new tree. If you already have a tree in your tree lawn or trees in your yard that extend into the tree lawn, your property may not be chosen.
Official tree planting request forms and more information are available at City Hall and on-line at http://goo.gl/hvUUTM. Please fill out one form per address and return it to City Hall or submit it online by Thursday, June 19, 2014. Trees will be planted by volunteers on June 27, 2014.
If you have any questions about the tree planting program or are interested in volunteering, please e-mail norwichtrees@gmail.com.
