Hedge maple trees take root in Woodmere

The 39 hedge maple trees that were planted between Linden Street and Woodmere Boulevard along Broadway in Woodmere last month are part of Nassau County’s initiative to plant at least 500 new trees this year.

“These particular trees are replacing trees that came down due to storm damage,” county spokesman Michael Fricchione wrote in an email. “The campaign is identifying areas throughout Nassau where new trees can thrive.”

County Executive Laura Curran kicked off the countywide tree-planting campaign on the last day of April, which is National Arbor Day that was established in 1872 to encourage people to plant trees. Many states observe Arbor Day on different dates to coincide with the best times to plant trees in their area.

Curran, horticulturists, local residents and officials planted a southern magnolia tree in Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Park in Uniondale. The tree is native to King’s home state of Georgia and was placed behind a bust of MLK.

“The Nassau County Tree Advisory Board is currently evaluating other locations that can be suitable areas for trees to grow,” Fricchione stated in an email. “In an urban setting, space is one of the criteria that we look closely at. Not enough space and the tree won’t grow. Too much space and its roots will uplift streets and sidewalks.”

In 2014, the county cut down and removed roughly 75 trees along Peninsula Boulevard in Woodmere that were damaged in Hurricane Sandy.

Trees and shrubs improve soil and water conservation, store carbon, moderate local climate by providing shade, regulate temperature extremes, increase wildlife habitat and improve the land's capacity to adapt to climate change, according to multiple science-related sources.

“Wow, so great to see this done in our community,” Lawrence resident Ed Gottlieb wrote in an email alerting the Herald to the Woodmere tree plantings. “They will grow big and strong and make our community feel lush.”