LVTT August Meeting

[Christine Brill]

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're well and staying safe. 

I will be away from the City next week, which is when our regularly-scheduled monthly meeting would typically take place (August 6th). My preference would be to skip August and regroup in September. Is that alright? We do have a Tree Park meeting scheduled for August 10th at 5:30 pm, at the Tree Park, and you're all welcome to attend. With the pandemic... we have focused energy on the Tree Park and (in my opinion) it's been a really great thing. 

Here's a quick Tree Park update:

There has been a good deal of activity with the Tree Park recently! We have three new volunteers who I am introducing here: Ed Leshinski lives outside of the City but is helping with the Tree Park, and Matthew and Peter live on Keystone (I think) and have really put a lot of energy into large swaths of the Tree Park. New railroad ties have been acquired (donated by Busy BEaver) to help reinforce Keystone's edge, and there's been talk about trying to establish some fern plantings below the Hawthorne trees, maybe this fall. We are so grateful for your contributions to making the Tree Park gorgeous again. 

BUT, there is an issue worth discussing: the Cedar/Juniper trees are making the Hawthornes  sick. The culprit is Cedar-Hawthorn Rust and one of the two species should ideally be replaced. Matt Erb, Director of Urban Forestry w/ Tree Pittsburgh (and long-time LVTT member) feels that the Hawthorne has greater ecological value... so we might consider replacing the Juniper. This group should discuss a process for educating the public about this issue, and possible replacement options, at our next meeting - ideally on September 3rd. I am also interested in getting a weatherproof bulletin board (something like this) for the Tree Park so that we can share information with the public and also promote our work. 

And, oh yeah, we have $3.70 in the bank. We should discuss fundraising, too. 

Let me know your thoughts and if you're ok with skipping the August meeting. Feel free to convene without me!

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Christine Brill
412.443.4210

[Christine Brill]

Great question!

On Sat, Aug 1, 2020 at 10:16 AM Pietro Pezzella <pietro.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

Out of curiosity what would we do with the juniper trees once they’re removed?  Would they just get tossed or?

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Pietro A. F. Pezzella

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Christine Brill, AIA
412.443.4210

Principal
Studio for Spatial Practice

www.studiofsp.com

A Woman's Business Enterprise (WBE)

[Christine Brill]

Great question. They are pretty big. 

Ed, Matthew and Peter: would you like to be added to the Lawrenceville Tree Tenders email group? Very few emails are exchanged. 

On Sat, Aug 1, 2020 at 10:29 AM Pietro Pezzella <pietro.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

I guess the reason I ask is maybe they can be donated to another park where they wouldn’t cause the cross disease issue between species.  If that’s not possible my dad has a decent plot of land that we could maybe plant them there.  Just some thoughts.  I’m sure tree Pittsburgh would have a plan for them.  I’d hate to see them trashed.