Road median on Beach 67th Ave.

 

The church is located on Beach 67th Ave., a two-way street with a wide median, planted with grass and trees. Across the street is a senior housing facility.  On its property hidden behind an opaque fence is large empty lot, full of tall grass and weeds.  Medians like this are common in this part of the Rockaways, and we hope this project will inspire neighbors to transform medians throughout the area. (Photos by Janet Soderberg)

 

NYC Dept. of Parks has given us clearance to plant. 

 

 

Good morning Dan,

 

This median is not currently a Greenstreet or an area maintained by the Parks Department.  It is NYC DOT property.  Parks is responsible for the trees only.

 

Parks has no objections to the group planting around the trees if they want to maintain the plantings. The only thing we ask is that they do not build raised planters around the trees and/or raise the grade around the trees by adding significant amounts of topsoil.  Raising the grade around tree trunks can seriously harm the trees, because the bark needs to have an oxygen exchange with the air (excess topsoil around the trunk will prevent this exchange and encourage trunk & root rot).  The group can incorporate fresh compost into the top 2-3 inches in order to enrich the soil, and then plant perennials or annuals (herbaceous material, not shrubs) into that.  Mulching and watering the plantings will help the trees as well.  If they have any questions or would like advice, please give them my phone number. I’m happy to speak with them.

 

Thanks,

A.

 

Adriana Jacykewycz

Director of Horticulture, Queens

NYC Department of Parks & Recreation

718.520.5341 (Queens Greenhouse)