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Committee outlines plan to plant 187 trees, start West End nursery and pilot a pear-tree bounty
Summary
Members of an unidentified tree committee described plans to plant 187 trees at Commerce Park, start a fenced nursery on the West End for apple trees and chestnuts, trial sequoia saplings, and pilot a reward-based pear-tree removal voucher program; funding and timelines remain tentative.
Unidentified Speaker 1, a committee member, said the city will plant 187 trees at Commerce Park this year and that "we're gonna water them for the first year because we want them to have that good start." The speaker said residents purchased the trees and contracted with the committee for planting and initial care.
The committee described multiple related projects intended to expand the urban canopy and reduce maintenance costs. Plans include redesigning trails at Down Arrow Field using a State of Ohio map of Indigenous trails; moving woody vegetation from Delano Field of Discovery into an arboretum grove to support pollinators; and planting six large trees in meadow areas west of the terraces. To lower mowing costs, the committee said it will trial a one-cut-per-year ornamental grass it referred to as "mil mow" that grows about 8 inches tall and then flops over.
The group announced a new, city-fenced nursery on a West End lot to grow apple trees and chestnuts until they are transplant-ready. Unidentified Speaker 1 said the nursery will produce larger, more robust saplings for future plantings, and that the committee plans to test sequoias in the nursery after noting examples of successful sequoia starts in Michigan and Detroit. "If we can, we're gonna spread them around," the speaker said, adding the plan is to plant sequoias in small groupings of two or three rather than single back-yard trees because of eventual size.
On replacement incentives, the speaker described an early-stage "bounty" program aimed at removing a shortlist of unwanted pear trees. Under the proposal, residents would document a removed stump with a photo; the committee would certify the removal if the tree species is on the approved list; and the resident would receive a voucher for a replacement tree that the program would plant. "All that depends on the funding," the speaker cautioned.
Committee members also described site-specific plantings tied to a lot-grant program: tree plantings in the Dan Emmett neighborhood, along Mansfield Road adjacent to a planned mixed-use path in the Clinton Road area, and improvements on the west end in front of West High Street North. The committee said it last completed a formal tree inventory in 2017 and plans to bring interns with natural-resource backgrounds to help update the inventory and develop a master plan.
No formal motions or votes were recorded in the transcript. Speakers repeatedly requested volunteers to help with planting and maintenance. Unidentified Speaker 3 closed the committee session, asked attendees to sign a get-well card for John Francis (a former city council member), and announced a recess until 7:30 p.m.
The committee plans to pilot the listed projects but noted funding and timelines remain unspecified; next steps mentioned were recruiting volunteers, updating the tree inventory, and developing the master plan.
