Tree Board names Raintree property flower-award winner; Sage Avenue nomination rejected

The Wellington Tree Board voted to give its flower award to the property on Raintree Lane and declined to award the nomination for a second property on Sage Avenue after reviewing submissions and site visits.

Board members who visited the Raintree property praised its front-yard bromeliads, bougainvillea and native cypress, and a member said she “would be very supportive of giving this property a flower award.” The board’s motion to accept the Raintree Lane submission carried after a voice vote: “So moved,” and “Aye” responses were recorded; a mover and seconder were not identified in the transcript.

The Sage Avenue nomination drew mixed comments. Board members described the Sage property as an eclectic, edible-style landscape featuring papaya, banana and guava plants and a large live oak. Several members said the site lacked maintenance and sufficient visible native landscaping to meet the board’s award criteria. After discussion, the board made a motion and voted to withhold the award for the Sage Avenue property; the chair announced a unanimous vote.

Actions recorded by the board on these nominations included on-site review, scoring by committee members, and the two votes (one to award Raintree and one to withhold the award for Sage). The Raintree property will be contacted and scheduled to receive its award recognition at the village’s Earth Day event.

Ending: The awarded property will be contacted by board members about the Earth Day presentation; the board also discussed ideas to increase future nominations, including individually nominating one property per board member and considering school gardens as a future recognition category.