Info From Charles Nazarian About The Trees At The UU Church That Were Taken Down

Hi All, This was actually a long-awaited happy day! The Norway Maples (an invasive species) were dying one by one and dropping limbs plus their exposed roots had become a safety hazard during our summer concert series. Two years ago the Meetinghouse Foundation received a CPA grant to completely restore the green with new disease-resistant Elms, a new lawn with a grid underneath for event parking, new walkways for safe access, soft uplighting on the trees, restored cast-iron tubular fencing between the granite pillars and a sprinkler/irrigation system to sustain the lawn and the Elms. This fall we received a matching grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, so the work could proceed this spring. The landscape designer and project manager is Doug Cook, principal of the firm Lansdesign on Main Street. Completion is due before the first Music on Meetinghouse Green concert on July 5th…a day we will really celebrate with the whole community. We will be planting Princeton Elms, which are highly disease-resistant, grow quickly and will form a beautiful cathedral-like canopy when mature, as shown in the old photos on the GMG page. We have about $25K left to raise and people may give an Elm in honor of, or in memory of somebody for $3K. There will be a bronze plaque for all the donors and supporting organizations.

Joey, Doug Cook and I would be happy to join you in a GMG Podcast to share more about the project! We are deeply grateful to the Community Preservation Act Committee for their support of this project and for the recent Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant. The restored greed will be a treasure for the whole downtown community to enjoy…in safety.

The Princeton Elms will be between 14-16′ tall when first planted, but Doug Cook says that they will grow fast. This is one of the reasons we are installing an irrigation system for them along with a sprinkler for the lawn. The trees will look young for the first few years, but that is also beautiful.