DUMPSTER DIVING FOR GARDENERS

In spring my view looks like this. Fall 2010 it looked like this, with a firethorn in berry, and small trees and vines sporting their autumn colors.It's my borrowed scenery, the view from my office, living room and bedroom windows. I love to see how the across-the-street gardeners are progressing. I know not their names, but their smoking and coffee drinking habits as they emerge onto their terraces in early morning.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?
An avid reader of Garden Bytes, BBP, alerted me. Although I was well aware when the scaffolding went up, when the cranes and ladders arrived on the 18th floor terraces across the street, I didn't connect all that to losing my borrowed scenery. But as BBP pointed out, all the plants were gone.I go away for one day and all the plants and containers on the 16th floor are missing; the crew is now working to clear the terrace on #17.Down, down, down in a cart on a flimsy pulley ......... to the dumpster below. So you fans of dumpster diving, who knows what garden treasures you'll find if you can just wiggle under the tarp that covers the dumpster at night. (double click on image above to see some of the treasures you're missing)SO YOU THINK YOU HAVE GARDEN PROBLEMS?
Today four men in hoodies are ripping out decking and repairing leaks on the terrace, then will re-surface. Come spring will I have new borrowed scenery to enjoy? Is the co-op owner responsible for totally redoing the garden on the terrace?

A NOT-SO-PERFECT STORM

Last Tuesday a major wind and thunderstorm hit Manhattan, leaving dreadful tree damage in Central Park, parts of Randall’s Island and Harlem's Thomas Jefferson park. By Wednesday morning the NY Times reported more the 100 trees down in Central Park, most in the Northern third. Thursday morning after the Parks Department did a quick survey I got a group email from Douglas Blonsky the President of the Central Park Conservancy asking for donations. Restoration and repair estimates were projected at over $500,000, with millions more in lost value of trees and wildlife habitat. Blonsky reported over two hundred trees down, plus hundreds more damaged and possibly needing removal.On Sunday, morning I went out to see for myself. Workers had already dragged trees blocking roadways off to the side and had started removing hanging limbs; other areas were marked by yellow danger tape. A horse chestnut tree obstructed the path I wanted to take.
People were using the
park as they always did.
Runners on the East
Road focused straight
ahead, seeming oblivious
to the damage. Dogs
walked and peed, sniff-
ing new scents. Walkers,
readers, picnicers, and
soccer players continued
with their activities.
According to the last
tree census in Central
Park in 2008 there were
26,000 trees. Now one
to two percent are gone.
The Conservancy
announced that they’ll
rush to replace as many
of the fallen trees as
possible to prevent inva-
sive species like Norway
maples and Japanese
knotweed from taking over.
The 70 mph winds didn’t
seem to discriminate
between Tulip Trees,
Hickory, American Elm,
Sweet Gum, Sycamores,
and Horse chestnuts.
History of past loves will
disappear as well.
Double-click on this pic-
ture to enlarge, and
check the date 1918 on
the trunk.
The NY Times reports
that the wood cannot
be used for either lum-
ber or firewood because
of Asian Longhorn Beetle
restrictions, but it will
be shredded and shipped
to landfills. I don’t quite
get why that will be better.For the most part, The Conservatory Garden at E. 105th street seemed unscathed, though several damaged trees towering high over the Western edges of the garden, made the wisteria pergola unsafe and off limits. See damage near the top and center of the image.
To get more information and to donate to the Central Park Conservancy go to:
This Crape Myrtle was oblivious to the death and destruction beyond the garden.