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Kersten Moore is a tree ambassador par excellence.
After members of the Hamden Alliance for Trees (HAT) knocked on her door last year with an offer of a street tree, she jumped at the chance. Her flowering cherry, which she christened Margaret, has already grown several feet since it was planted in the fall, and its pink blossoms were a sight to behold this spring. “We talk to her so she grows,” Moore says, and it’s clear she considers the tree a member of the family.
Moore lives in the Highwood section of southern Hamden. It’s one of three neighborhoods – all lacking tree canopy – that were included in a $25,000 two-year Community Development Block Grant to help spread some tree joy, explains HAT coordinator Diane Hoffman. The others are the State Street area and Newhall. Residents can also get a free water bag and a hose if needed. They must agree to water their tree weekly from spring through fall for three years to get it off to a healthy start.
“These are lower income census tracts that really needed trees,” Hoffman says. HAT, which is a member of the Six Lakes Park Coalition, has a two-page handout extolling the benefits of trees. Among many other things, they provide shade, beauty, and homes and food for many species; they also reduce the “urban heat island effect,” referring to temperatures that are several degrees higher in neighborhoods with more asphalt compared to leafier environs. Trees also are the best natural defense against climate change.
When contacted by a HAT team, Moore says, “My son and I were very interested in learning more. I’ve lived in this house my whole life and we had had a maple tree in front, but it wasn’t appropriate on the little curb strip; it cracked the sidewalk. My grandfather asked the town to cut it down, and I’ve always missed it.”
She expressed her preference for a flowering cherry and was able to get it, although Hoffman says the town can’t guarantee residents will always get their first choice. It depends on availability and the requirements of the site.
Hoffman says, “The tree planting is a collaboration between HAT, the town grant administrator, the Public Works Department and the Hamden Tree Commission. Mike Montgomery (a retired arborist and member of the tree commission) meets with each resident to make sure the site is appropriate. Then the crew from DPW plants it and waters it. We put fencing around the tree to protect the trunk.”
Hoffman says 28 trees were planted in the fall of 2024, and about the same number will be planted this fall. She adds that neighbors like Kersten Moore are an invaluable part of the project; through her outreach, she recruited six more people on her one-block long street who also want street trees planted. If the sites are appropriate, these new trees will transform the block over the next several years.
Moore lives close to the Six Lakes property, and she has her own stories about visiting it. “When I was a kid, we used to walk through the Olin property – at certain times of the year they opened it to the public. My dad would show us the mushrooms and my mom would talk about the trees and the birds. It was always cool and quiet, with all the trees. It was wilderness right in the city."
Interested in requesting a street tree in Newhall/Highwood, Hamden Plains, or State Street? Apply here. |
