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Commission reviews landscape master plan; staff proposes removing hazard trees and planting perimeter allees
Summary
Commissioners reviewed a multi‑year landscape master plan that would remove hazardous inner‑lawn trees and reestablish an alley of trees along the perimeter over 2025–26, and discussed replacing a historic catalpa tree if it fails.
The Michigan State Capitol Commission reviewed a landscape master plan that calls for removal of hazard trees, targeted replanting along the lawn perimeter and reestablishment of a historical alley of trees over 2025–26.
Why it matters: Tree removal and replanting affect public viewshed, pedestrian experience on the Capitol grounds and long‑term maintenance and safety for a 145‑year‑old public building.
Rob Blackshaw, the commission’s executive director, said staff and consultants (Beckett and Rader landscape architects and Michigan State University specialists) have identified multiple hazard trees to be removed this fall and into 2026. He said one tree (referred to in the packet as "Tree 12") will be removed after recent storms created dangerous limb failure.
On the plan to reestablish an alley of trees around the perimeter, Blackshaw said renderings show how removing inner trees and planting perimeter Michigan‑native hardwoods will restore the original design intent and still allow view corridors from the street. "You come to the trees, you see the park, when you walk through the alley of trees, then the building just grows and it has this grandiose feel," he said.
Commissioner Land asked how the plan would interact with the large catalpa tree on the grounds; Blackshaw said the catalpa has a large internal cavity and is supported by iron posts that are beginning to twist. He said the master plan calls for removing the existing catalpa should it fail and replacing it with a new catalpa paired with a matching tree on the north side of the sidewalk to preserve the historical feature.
Blackshaw said planned perimeter plantings would likely use trees at least a 6‑inch caliper and that renderings included views for 2019, 2024 and projected 2025–26 conditions. Commissioners discussed inclusion of smaller flowering species (dogwoods) in peripheral areas such as near Heritage Hall; Blackshaw said the full planting palette is documented in a plan prepared by Carrie Chartkoff and that staff would circulate that plan to commissioners.
No formal roll‑call vote on the landscape plan appears in the meeting transcript; commissioners indicated support to "move forward" and staff said they will proceed with the 2025–26 planting and removal schedule.
