New Effort Aims to Restore Once Prevalent Atlantic White Cedars
Katie Ruppel

Tucked among the red cedars, black oaks and white oaks at Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary stand six Atlantic white cedars, barely two feet tall.

Last year Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation planted 12 of these cedars at the sanctuary as part of a restoration project; the tree is said to be native to the Vineyard, according to executive director Adam Moore.

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At Least Two Trees Will Fall for West Tisbury Library Restoration
Remy Tumin

As ground breaking nears for construction of the new West Tisbury library, the town selectmen this week reviewed a tree-cutting plan to accommodate the larger design.

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Library Tree Cutting Request Weights Heavily on Selectmen
Remy Tumin

A plan to cut down 11 trees, some more than half a century old, to make way for the new West Tisbury Library, came under close inspection by the town selectmen, tree warden and others this week.

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Request to Remove Library Trees Catches Selectmen Off-Guard
Remy Tumin

West Tisbury library trustees asked the town selectmen this week for permission to cut down nearly 10 trees to make way for construction of the new library late this fall. The library also needs the money to take the trees down.On Wednesday trustee Linda Hearn asked the selectmen to put an article on the Nov. 13 special town meeting warrant asking for $6,000 for the tree removal. There are four large trees adjacent to the parking lot, two at the rear of Howes House, several small trees around the property and a large maple at the entrance to the parking lot, which Polly Hill Arboretum executive director Tim Boland called “diseased and dangerous,” according to Mrs. Hearn.

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In Polly's Garden: White Oaks, Noble Among the Breed
Tim Boland

I noticed the oaks right away. My first visit to the Vineyard was in spring 2002 when the abundant oak trees were raining down yellow pollen. Later, after moving to the Island while my daughter was playing at the West Tisbury School playground, I wandered off into the woods to look at the trees. I was gleeful to discover five oak species, including Quercus alba, the white oak. A young mother asked why I was so excited. After I explained my love affair with oaks, and my new position at the arboretum, she gave me some input: “I hate oaks; they’re everywhere.

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Island Spruce Trees Suffer Severe Damage
Joshua Sabatini

An insect species never before recorded on Martha's Vineyard
has attacked spruce trees Islandwide, damaging many and even killing a
few, say area scientists and tree experts.

The pest was identified this month as a Spruce aphid (elatobium
abietinum) by a cooperative effort of scientists at the University of
Massachusetts.

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O, Christmas Tree! Park Landlord Says It Must Come Down
MANDY LOCKE

O, Christmas Tree! Park Landlord Says It Must Come Down

By MANDY LOCKE

A graceful Christmas tree is caught in a tug-of-war between
Edgartown leaders and the Benjamin Hall family.

The full-bodied spruce stands 20 feet tall in the center of a
treasured park on Main street. The Halls - who have leased the
so-called mini-park to the town for decades - are demanding the
tree come down.

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Fall of a Tree

From the sky down, goodbye to a grand old friend.

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Garden Club Learns of Tough Trees That Survive Strong Winds
Sandra Spielvogel

After thirty years serving the Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich on Cape Cod, horticulturist Jeanne Gillis said she still loves to work with people and plants.

Speaking before the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club at its October meeting, Ms. Gillis presented more than thirty colorful slides in a talk titled Flowering Plants for the Landscape.

Many of the plants featured in her talk are strong and able to survive high winds.

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Tree Cutting on Byways Angers Town, Neighbors
Mike Seccombe

The latest round in a dispute pitting a landowner’s right of access against conservation values played out like a game of cat and mouse in town hall, the courts and the woods of Edgartown last week.

It began a little before 10 a.m. on Friday morning, when Paul Elliott, the president of the Edgartown Meadows Road Association, found workmen cutting down trees along Middle Line Road.

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