Local Ecologist

The Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village is located in the interior of the block bounded by West Third Street, LaGuardia Place, Bleecker Street, and Mercer Street.  The garden is historic with landmark potential.   It was completed in 1959 and designed by the world-renowned landscape architect Hideo Sasaki.  The garden is endangered.   It is located in the "North Block" of the NYU's proposed 20-year expansion plan area. The Garden Now Image: Verdant and lush WSV Sasaki Garden The Proposed Replacement Image: Highly paved interior of the North Block under NYU 2031 ( source ) The NYU 20 Year Expansion Plan (or NYU 2031) has to undergo a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) which will begin in January 2012.  The first round of hearings will be conducted by Community Board 2. 1. Monday, January 9: Land Use & Business Development: NYU will present its overall proposal. 2. Tuesday, January 10: Traffic & Transportation: What are the im

The English elm is still in leaf as of December 12. The Tree Year is winding down with only 11 days remaining in the year.  This is our final post about the English elm in Washington Square Park for the Tree Year project.  We would like to leave you with this amazing information about the species from a research abstract by Gil et al., 2004 : The outbreak of Dutch elm disease in the 1970s ravaged European elm populations, killing more than 25 million trees in Britain alone; the greatest impact was on Ulmus procera, otherwise known as the English elm. Here we use molecular and historical information to show that this elm derives from a single clone that the Romans transported from Italy to the Iberian peninsula, and from there to Britain, for the purpose of supporting and training vines. Its highly efficient vegetative reproduction and its inability to set seeds have preserved this clone unaltered for 2,000 years as the core of the English elm population — and the preponderance o

I am always delighted to receive publication from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  The Winter Bird Highlights from Project FeederWatch 2010-2011 is chock full of information including a regional roundup of birds sighted by citizen scientists. Image: Northern Cardinal, Washington Square Village Sasaki Garden courtesy Hubert J Steed ( source ) The Top-25 List for the the Mid-Atlantic, East Central, Northeast, Great Lakes, Allegheny, & Atlantic Canada Regions included Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, and more . Image: House Sparrow, WSV Sasaki Garden courtesy Hubert J Steed ( source ) The New York State Top-25 List included Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and more . Image: Americ

Playgrounds are typically profiled in the "At play" series but we would like to share our list of moon-inspired children's books in advance of the total lunar eclipse to occur on Saturday, December 10, 2011.  We were inspired by a moon-inspired book list on oomscholasticblog tweeted by @ScholasticNYC. Dinosaur's Binkit , Sandra Boynton Pajama Time , Sandra Boynton Goodnight Moon , Margaret Wise Brown Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me , Eric Carle My Mommy Hung the Moon , Jamie Lee Curtis Harold and the Purple Crayon , Crockett Johnson In the Night Kitchen , Maurice Sendak Zoom into Space with the Shiny Red Rocket , Tick Tock Books Space, NASA Information & News reported that the best places to view the eclipse will be in "Alaska, Hawaii, northwestern Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and central and eastern Asia," while people in the contiguous United States and eastern Canada "will see either only the initial penumbral stages before moo

There has been high interest in the post about the Callery pear and at least one of our readers has made a planting decision based on information contained in the article. If you are looking for another showy tree, consider Goldenrain tree ( Koelreuteria paniculata ). Image: Goldenraintree courtesy of City of Troy, MI Parks and Rec ( source ) The Society of Municipal Arborists (SMA) selected the species as the 2011 Urban Tree of the Year .  In addition to its flowering characteristics, SMA members valued its tolerance of drought and soil conditions "including pH extremes (4.5-8.0), coarse to fine texture, and compacted soils with low organic content and fertility."  The species is relatively insusceptible to disease and insect infestation.  The goldenrain tree bug ( Jadera species), a native insect, is an occasional nuisance according to the University of Florida/IFAS Extension.  Early structural pruning was recommended to "correct" its decurrent form if

Early cultivars of Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana), for example 'Bradford,' perform poorly in inclement weather (ice and wind) as they age.  Its reported inferior branching habit composed of many vertical stems weaken over time and cannot withstand heavy loading from ice and wind.  In contrast to the 'Bradford' is the 'Cleveland Select' aka 'Chanticleer' which was selected as the 2005 Urban Tree of the Year by the Society of Municipal Arborists . (For a perspective of these two pears in spring click here .) What the 'Bradford' and preferred cultivars of the species have in their favor are showy spring flowers and brilliant fall color.  And for the wildlife enthusiasts among us, its fruit is a food source for birds.  A description of the flowers from the Central Park Conservancy: A profusion of beautiful white flowers, each 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter, growing in clusters measuring 2 to 4 inches across, appearing before or with the l

Have your tree i.d. skills been challenged by a leaf that looks like a maple species ( Acer ) but could be a London planetree ( Platanus acerifolia )?  If so, read our leaf key in the inaugural post of Metropolitan Field Guide's On Being Misunderstood series.