look out below!

When most people think about NYC gardens they say, "Ooo, ahh, how lovely to have a spot of green in the middle of the city." Not many stop to wonder about the logistical difficulties of gardening here. It's not just about where to put what plant or what kind of mulch to use. It's how do you get the 15' tree in the 12' elevator and who's going to carry 100 cubic feet of soil through the spotless apartment, over the white carpet?

Gardening in NYC is extreme gardening, and when it comes to trees, the work can be truly daunting. Unless, that is, you have Urban Arborists on your side.

When my client called on Saturday, alarmed about a giant branch hanging precariously from his tree over a neighbor's glass roof, I hoped he was exaggerating. He wasn't. A 30 foot branch from an old honey locust had snapped from the tree about 50' from the ground, and was barely balanced on two branches below. The branch's diameter at its largest point was about 10". This was going to do some damage if/when it hit the ground.

Bill Logan (from Urban Arborists) came to look at the tree on Monday and Tuesday morning his crew was on site first thing, doing their job more competently, quickly, and cleanly than I could have hoped. It's fascinating to watch this well-choreographed team work. One man throws a rope straight up in the air, 60 feet. The gesture is effortless, the rope fairly floats out of his hands. The tree is climbed, the branch is tied and chain-sawed into manageable pieces. Each piece is lowered oh so carefully to the pavement below without scraping the fence or bending a blossom.


Two hours later and you'd never know anything had been out of place. The branch has been chipped into mulch and we all are safe from traumatic head injury by honey locust. Thanks to Urban Arborists.