https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Public-parks-gardens-discover-more-storm-damage-2424957.php
Public parks, gardens discover more storm damage
Jim Fitzgerald, Associated Press
Published 7:15 pm EST, Sunday, December 25, 2011
NEW YORK -- Spring won't be quite so springlike next year in some of the Northeast's best-known woodland settings.
A freak snowstorm in October and Tropical Storm Irene in August combined to destroy or damage tens of thousands of trees, many of them popular favorites, in the region's parks and public gardens.
Uprooted trees and snapped-off boughs were evident after each storm, but not until this month, when surviving trees finally lost their leaves and arborists found hidden cracks and other damage, was the full scope of the devastation appreciated, managers said.
"People will need to use their imaginations for a little while," said Gayle Petty-Johnson, executive director of the Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit, N.J.
Todd Forrest, vice president for horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, said the damage from the snowstorm "was as extensive as any storm has caused in my 13 years at the garden."
Experts said the cleanup will take several more months, which means paying overtime to staffers, hiring outside help and deciding what new trees to purchase, all on budgets that were already strapped as financial support from governments eroded.
During a recent visit to the garden, workers with chain saws were felling a locust tree that had been ruined in the snowstorm. A small parking lot had been given over to a 12-foot-tall, 35-foot-long pile of wood chips from fallen trees and branches.
Fundraising campaigns have begun, asking members and longtime supporters to help restore their parks and gardens. But officials aren't pretending that the damage can be hidden.
Talking about a much-admired magnolia grove at the Botanical Garden that was hard-hit by the snowstorm, Forrest said, "You told yourself to enjoy it while it lasted because you know trees don't live forever. But then boom, it's changed, and you know it will be decades before it is what it was again."
Forrest estimated that 3,000 trees were lost or damaged at the garden in the Bronx. In Manhattan's Central Park, more than 1,000 of the 23,000 trees have been removed or are likely to go, said Neil Calvanese, vice president for operations at the Central Park Conservancy, which cares for the park under contract with the city.
Petty-Johnson said 20 to 25 percent of the trees at the Reeves-Read Arboretum had significant or fatal damage. One falling tree heavily damaged a historic garden of azaleas that dated to the 1920s and was a popular spot for weddings.
Other well-known trees or tree stands that suffered in the storms include:
The Ramble in Central Park, where, Calvanese said, "the heavy damage to the tree canopy means people will see a lot more of the sky."
A line of Chinese elms in the Bronx. Five of the six were destroyed and only neat circles of earth remain. Coincidentally, the trees bore the variety name Central Park Splendor, and an online description says the variety "resists breakage in storms."
A Chinese fringe tree near 67th Street in Central Park. "This tree, in the spring, was just spectacular, and I'm afraid it was busted up pretty badly in the snowstorm," Calvanese said. "It's still there, we'll evaluate it, see how it leafs out."
One side of the drive leading to the New Jersey arboretum. "It was this great arching canopy, and just the one side was pretty hard-hit," Petty-Johnson said. "We have to replace them and we can't do it with little trees, either."
Century-old chestnut trees, including Bartlett chestnuts, at the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford. Irene destroyed a tree that was grown from seed in 1913 and was the original from which clones have since been derived.
Most area parks and gardens suffered more from the Oct. 29 snowstorm, but Irene was the principal scourge at Bartlett, said arborist Jonathan Borysiewicz.
"It's not like you stand around crying, but it affects you," he said. "It's pretty impressive to see mature trees of 60 or 80 feet just go over."
Forrest said that at the Botanical Garden, damage from Irene was "intensive but not as extensive" as from the snowstorm.
In the snowstorm, "All the trees were still in leaf, so they had lots of surface area to hold onto the snow, which was like wet cement," he said.
The next morning, he heard "one of the eeriest things I'll ever hear: the popping and snapping and popping and snapping of tree limbs."
In Central Park, 125 trees were lost to the tropical storm, Calvanese said.
"During Irene, with the supersaturated soil, we had trees coming up out of the ground, whereas with the snow we had trees mostly snapping off.
"I'll tell you, with those storms coming so close together, and all that damage, it was like, "Oh, boy, what next?"
The Central Park Conservancy's budget is about $40 million, 85 percent of which is privately raised, Calvanese said, and he doesn't expect city funds to help cover the storm losses.
"I'm pretty sure we're going to go over $1 million on this storm damage, and we know that's going to be private dollars."
The Botanical Garden is assuming snowstorm cleanup and replacement will costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, on top of the $150,000 in damage caused by Irene, Forrest said. Members have already been asked for donations.
One-fifth of the garden's $60 million budget comes from government sources. City support has been cut 20 percent since 2008, said spokeswoman Melinda Manning.
The unanticipated costs are also strapping the smaller gardens. The Bartlett is owned by the city of Stamford, but the city provides just 30 percent of the $1 million budget, and its support is shrinking, said Peter Saverine, the executive director. He said the arboretum would look to foundations, corporate grants, members and annual appeals to recoup this year's losses.
At the Reeves-Reed, Petty-Johnson said, "Every year we struggle." She said less than $50,000 of the $1 million budget comes from government funds, and even that might diminish. She's hoping the cost of the storms won't go over $60,000.
"It's much worse than we ever expected to see," she said. "We had to buy bigger chain saws."
Officials at several gardens mentioned what Forrest called "the very narrow silver lining" on the storm clouds: the rare chance to change the look of a spot where a tree once grew.
"Trees cast a lot of shade, and they change the light conditions of the gardens below as they grow," Forrest said. "You would never cut them down for the sake of letting flowers grow better, but in some places now, we appreciate having more light."
In Central Park, some places had too many trees, Calvanese said.
"It seemed like every time there was an Arbor Day, someone planted an oak tree in the southern part of the park. You actually don't have room to replant in those areas."
Forrest said he's sure parks and gardens will manage to do whatever it takes to keep the public happy.
"When people come to the garden, they need it to be beautiful," he said. "They don't just expect it to be beautiful, they need it to be beautiful. And broken trees everywhere just is not beautiful."