Somerville Parks Tree Health Program

In March of 2020, the City implemented a proactive Parks Tree Health Program. It focused on Somerville-owned parks and delivering the best arboreal practices to promote healthy tree growth. Each year, four to seven parks will cycle through this program. This program is designed to go beyond routine maintenance and to put parks on a six-year health maintenance cycle.

The program involves 1) the completion of a comprehensive health assessment of the trees in each park by a certified arborist, 2) a work plan for proactively maintaining those trees, 3) the execution of that work, as well as long-term maintenance recommendations.

A health assessment includes:

• General conditions: describes the conditions in which the trees are growing and identifies unique challenges and/or opportunities
• Soil health: examines compaction, tests soil for PH and macronutrient levels
• Pest treatment: looks for evidence of any pests, harmful fungi or disease on trees
• Other correction of adverse conditions: records conditions such as girdling roots, evidence of storm damage, structural abnormalities, or other observed conditions or vulnerabilities
• Pruning: identifies pruning needs for tree health, proper branch structure, safety, visual and structural clearance
• Removal: identifies trees that require removal because they are dying, diseased, considered a hazard or some other hazardous condition. All of these trees have been assessed by the City Inventory, the consulting arborist for the Parks Tree Health Program and verified by the City’s Urban Foresters. Although a tree may have some buds or leaves on it, and may be large, old, and beloved, if a tree is dead beyond recovery, it has reached the end of its life cycle. 

Maintenance work will be guided by the assessment of each park. Parks will be temporarily closed during maintenance.

Proactive maintenance extends the life cycle of the urban forest; and, therefore its “ecoservices benefits”, which include stormwater absorption, providing shade, and habitat as well as carbon sequestration. It also protects the City against liability caused by hazard trees and assures the safety of park users. This year in the fourth iteration of the Parks Tree Health Program, 232 trees throughout 7 parks will be assessed and have their maintenance needs attended to:
 

Parks Tree Health Work Schedule / Park Closures

• Central Hill Park & Library – June 20, 21, 2024 
• East Somerville Schoolyard – June 17,18, 24, 25, 2024  
• Hodgkins-Curtain Park – June 17, 18, 2024
• Hoyt-Sullivan Playground – May 31, 2024  
• Lexington Park – June 12, 2024 
• Milk Row Cemetary – June 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 2024 
• Somerville Armory – June 6, 2024 
• Trum Field  - June 13, 14, 2024 
• Trum Playground – June 13, 14, 2024  
• Woodstock Playground  - June 11, 2024
• Zero New Washington Park – June 10, 2024  

2023 Park Health Assessments

• City Hall Concourse 
• Dickerman Playground 
• Glen Park & Capuano Field 
• Grimmons Park 
• Kenney Park
• Morse-Kelley Playground 
• Stone Place Park

2022 Park Health Assessments                          

• Cremin Playground
• Nathan Tufts Park
• Perkins Playground

2021 Park Health Assessments

• Albion Playground
• Durell Pocket Park & Community Garden
• Florence Playground
• Palmacci Playground
• Statue Park
• Walnut Street Park

2020 Park Health Assessments

• Ed Leathers Park
• Marshall Street Playground
• Nunziato Park
• Osgood Park
• Perry Park
• Seven Hills Park
• Somerville Junction Park