Renovations at a private home have put a spotlight on a historic shade tree that graces South Water street and is likely the largest of its kind in the state.

The majestic pagoda tree was brought to the Vineyard as a seedling in a flower pot by a sea captain more than 175 years ago.

One sycamore maple and three Siberian elms will be replaced as part of an Edgartown house renovation. The elms are 50 feet tall but at the end of their life, an arborist said.

Walk along the edge of a meadow, the perimeter of a farm, or into a clearing in a deciduous forest on Martha’s Vineyard, and one plant you can almost count on finding is the black cherry tree. The black cherry, or Prunus serotina, is native to the Island and a vitally important source of food and shelter for a remarkable number of animals.

A superior court case revolving around an old Linden tree on Main street Edgartown was dismissed Tuesday. But after the dust had settled, both sides in the case agreed to go to work on the issue that reaches beyond a legal dispute over tree roots — the need to restore the decrepit building known as the Yellow House which sits in the center of the village.

A long-running dispute between the town of Tisbury and a pair of private landowners over maintaining views across the Tashmoo Overlook is closer to being resolved, the town selectmen said this week.
At their meeting Tuesday the Tisbury selectmen worked to finalize wording on a memorandum of understanding between the town and the Payette family.

It was truly a tree-mendous mystery.

Magnolia trees would do well to befriend beetles but leave bees behind.

The West Tisbury selectmen this week denied a request to remove more trees to accommodate construction of the new West Tisbury library and adjacent parking lot.
Building committee chairman Linda Hearn told the selectmen Wednesday that her group recently learned from NStar that the company needs to build an underground electrical vault near the road. Three additional trees need to be removed to make way for the vault, Mrs. Hearn said.
“I have to say I find this totally unacceptable. We went through an agonizing process,” selectman and board chairman Richard Knabel said.

I’ve got “nutting” bad to say about hickory trees.

Spruce it up. That is what Islanders did when they planted spruce trees in their yards. Fairly common on the Island, spruce found its way here because of its usefulness and beauty. These conifers prefer more northern climes, thriving in boreal forests.