With the warmer weather many people may be tempted to plant within their tree wells. Please consider your tree’s health before planting anything within the tree well. Flowers, grasses, weeds, or any additional plant material in the tree well will compete with the tree for valuable water, soil space, and nutrients. If you feel you can plant within the well without compromising the tree’s health, please only plant perennials. Each time something is planted, the small feeder roots of the tree can be disturbed and damaged. Perennials (especially perennial bulbs) reduce the frequency of digging and potential for damage. Annuals require digging too often.

If you are looking to improve tree health and tree well appearance, consider mulching your tree! Mulch protects from temperature extremes, improves the soil texture, and reduces weeds. Forest Friends may pick up a bag of compost/mulch at the Public Works main office at 147 Hampshire St. Keep the root flare area free of mulch and avoid a mulch volcano! Mounding the mulch around the base of your tree can cause rot. 

While we love our furry friends, dog urine and waste can be harmful to trees and the environment. Help support the health of our City's trees by not allowing your pet to relieve themselves directly on trees or in tree wells.  Be sure to collect all your pet's poop and place in trash bins - never down a storm drain. Rainfall in Cambridge flows to the Charles River or Alewife Brook and can pick up contaminants like dog urine and waste along its way. Let's keep our streets clean and our trees thriving, ensuring a greener, healthier environment for all!

Have you noticed the magenta colored flowers of the Eastern redbud in your neighborhood? Redbud is grown as a single stem or multi-stem tree. Its low height at maturity make it tree for planting under overhead electrical wires. The redbud’s flowers appear along its stems and branches before its heart-shaped leaves emerge. The redbud is one of the first-flowering species of tree in the spring, providing nectar and pollen for pollinators. Check out the redbud and other species of trees flowering this month on the Cambridge’s Flowering Tree Map: https://cambridgegis.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=8a2a4f1d7c7e4206a91371ffeb821aca

Knotweed has started to emerge, have you seen it? This time of year, look for fleshy, reddish colored shoots. Fast-growing stems are hollow, like bamboo. Leaves emerge as heart-shaped and white/cream colored flowers appear in August. Knotweed is an invasive species in Massachusetts. It forms dense colonies and outcompetes native plants. Once established it is very difficult to remove. For more information please visit: https://www.mass.gov/doc/nhdot-invasive-plant-fact-sheet-2-bmps-for-knotweed/download

We need your help to maintain a healthy, vibrant urban forest! Any Cambridge resident willing to regularly water the tree and provide some general care for the tree is welcome to become a Cambridge Urban Forest Friend.

If you have space for a tree on your property, Green Cambridge can plant a free native tree to help expand Cambridge’s urban tree canopy! If you own your home Cambridge, MA and would like Green Cambridge to plant a tree in your yard for FREE visit https://www.greencambridge.org/canopycrew