San Marco Library Trees Cut Down

[MizLisa]

Broke my heart today when I came to the San Marco library and saw the five beautiful oak trees that once lined the street outside were gone. They left only the one at the corner of Hendricks and Lasalle. Anyone know why this was done?

[dougskiles]

Yes, I know why.  The trees have been dying back for several years.  When looked at from an aerial, you can see very little leaf cover.  The road and utility work done a while back did a number on the root system.  Groups such as Greenscape and SMPS have been working with the city and arborists to save those trees for about ten years.  But they got to a point where it was a safety concern.

We are working with St Johns Riverkeeper to install a rain garden in their place.  Kevin Songer of MetroVerde and Bob Chabot (Director of Horticultural at the Zoo) have designed a very nice system of native plants and trees that will demonstrate how we can naturally treat storm water before it enters the river.

I will post more information about the process.  We plan to have a community planting day on early December.  For any who are interested, please email me.

[JeffreyS]

Thanks for the info Doug. What a valuable member of this community you are.

[MizLisa]

Thank you for all the information Mr. Skiles. I will look forward to your further posts about this.

[Noone]

I noticed that the other day as well.  Can't wait to see the finished product.