The town of Tonawanda has a community nursery

Every town needs a nursery. The benefits of having a dedicated nursery are limitless. Neighborhoods in Western New York struggle to maintain their tree-lined streets. When trees are ravaged by storms or encroaching predators, they tend to wither and die. Many of these trees are not replaced due to lack of funding and resources.

Buffalo was once known as the City of Trees. Even though most of our streets are maintained thanks to organizations like ReTree Buffalo, there is still a long way to go to replenish our overall tree stock.

To better manage tree replenishment, the City of Tonawanda has established a Community Nursery, located in the City of Tonawanda Highway Department on Woodward Avenue. The new nursery has 200 trees, of eight different species. There is also a drip irrigation system from a cistern on site. Each year, 50 trees will be transplanted from the nursery to the areas that need them most. In turn, 50 new trees are planted to make the project sustainable. Each tree will grow on the site for four years, before being dug up and moved to a site that will benefit the most, as part of efforts ranging from community development to environmental justice.

“It’s easy to take them for granted, but trees play a huge role in creating and maintaining healthy, attractive communities,” said New York State Senator Sean Ryan, who recently announced that he obtained a $20,000 state grant to create a community nursery. . “They beautify our cities, improve air quality and increase property values ​​in our neighborhoods. When Ted Rymarczyk of the Highway Department approached me with the idea of ​​a community nursery, I knew I wanted to help make it a reality. Thanks to Ted, Brian Fittry and the rest of the Town of Tonawanda Highway Department for their vision and hard work to get the nursery up and running.

“The Town of Tonawanda is grateful to Senator Ryan for securing this important funding for the tree farm,” said Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph H. Emminger. “Our city was the epicenter of the surprise storm of October 2006, and we are still recovering from it. Nearly 27,000 of the 31,000 trees located in municipal rights-of-way were damaged. 2,000 people could not be saved. The tree farm will allow us to grow and maintain a healthy stock of trees that will be planted to replace trees that have had to be cut down.

The nursery was designed with sustainability in mind:

• Its mulch is made from recycled wood chips from trees that have been removed by the Highway Department.
• The trails surrounding the nursery are recycled roads from the streets of Tonawanda.
• The Highway Department will also work with various local community groups to plan community education classes for all ages during which participants will learn the value of trees in our communities, as well as proper pruning, mulching and planting techniques. general maintenance of trees.

“The Community Nursery started as a fun idea and has grown into a program that we believe will have a real impact on the City of Tonawanda,” said Brian E. Fittry, Deputy Superintendent of Highways for the City of Tonawanda. “We are grateful to Senator Ryan for securing the grant that made this project possible.”