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04/18/2022 12:00 AMFor many years, the centerpiece of Branford's annual Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting has been a living tree which grows on the Branford green. Now, the tradition will continue with a newly planted, native White Spruce. The 26' to 28' tree was installed April 11 and replaces a somewhat taller (approximately 36') Colorado Blue Spruce which had served the town for many years; before careful examination over the past months revealed the tree was badly weakened, distressed and required replacement.
It was a team effort to tackle the job of first determining whether and when to replace the tree, and with what. The group involved the decision of First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove working with Branford's Tree Warden Gary Zielinski and advisory Branford Green Committee.
For at least the past two years or more, "...that tree has been in decline," said Zielinski. "It just wasn't looking right. There was a lot of needle loss. It was well on past the good part of its life."
Recognizing the tree was agressively ailing, the town put an ear to the ground to begin sourcing a possible replacement, should one be required. With the help of resident Bill Van Wilgen, who also planted the original tree for the town; Van Wilgen's Garden Center (North Branford) selected, located and helped secure the new tree from a source in upstate New York.
Meanwhile, this winter, Zielinski asked professional arborist, Cameron Pierce (Davy Tree Company, Hamden) to take a closer at the existing tree. Pierce found insect infestation and a large crack in a lower limb saddle joint of the tree.
"If that broke, we would have lost more than a third of the tree. It would have been the whole back part of the tree," said Zielinski.
With a new tree sourced and in the pipeline, Zielinski presented the opportunity to replace the tree to the Town's advisory Green Committee, which reviewed the issue ahead of voting to recommend the replacement to the first selectman.
Green Committee chairman David Minicozzi said the group, which tours the green each fall to look for obvious tree care needs (pruning, damaged limbs to be removed, etc.), was aware that the tree had been experiencing some decline; but not to the extent that was later revealed Pierce.
Once Zielinski presented the report, as well as the town's opportunity to take advantage of a hard-to-locate large tree to replace it, Minicozzi said the committee debated and discussed the advisory position it would take.
"It was a little bit controversial. You want to give the tree every opportunity," said Minicozzi.
But with the potential for the tree to crack apart or, worse, fall in a windstorm," ...the majority of us felt it was in the best interest to get the new tree in now, rather than wait until something happened."
On April 11, the committee was further reassured it made the right call. When the Town's Public Works crew members pulled out the stump of the former tree during the removal process, "...it came right out of the ground," said Zielinski.
"There was hardly any root system. I'm surprised it didn't blow over," said Zielinski.
Branford Parks and Recreation Director Alex Palluzzi was there to watch the changing of the trees on April 11 and talked about the tree's ties to the annual Branford Holiday Parade. The parade was founded by a group of Branford Festival volunteers (Charlotte Mattei, Dale Izzo and Catherine Kiernan) as a way to develop a more festive event around the annual town Tree Lighting on the green. The Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting has since grown into a community tradition. Palluzzi said the careful consideration and collaboration which went into bringing in the new tree was another great show of teamwork for the benefit of Branford.
"We love team efforts in this community," said Palluzzi.
Setting Up for Success
Once the tree was freighted in by truck from New York, Public Works crews used Town equipment to remove the old tree and stump. The Town hired Bartlett Tree Experts to do the rigging and Bay Crane for crane rental/operation; while Van Wilgen volunteered his crew to excavate and ready the site for the new tree planting. Zielinski situated the new tree slightly to the southwest of the original tree location. It stands in a wide-open space, surrounded by an earthen berm, on the main lawn of the town green nearest the corner of Main Street and Montowese Street.
Zielinski credits Van Wilgen's Nursery Manager Jason Scire with hunting down and sourcing the perfect tree.
"He spent quite a while looking for the right tree," said Zielinski. "It's hard to source a large tree like that, and to find one shaped like that."
White Spruce is a tree species that's native to this region, as opposed to non-native Colorado Blue Spruce, Zielinski noted. Combined with the Town's program of tree care including regular shearing and shaping, Branford's newest holiday tree is expected to thrive and grow to its full potential of easily up to 60 feet in height.
"We did it for the tree and the residents," Zielinski said of the decision to replace the failing tree. "Now we have this beautiful tree; and hopefully it gives us many years."