Developers, architects, contractors helping new program rescue unwanted trees
from construction sites, for transplanting to public parks
A new “matchmaking service for trees” marked its successful launch this month, as the Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony program saved 14 massive coconut palms from destruction – and transplanted them to create an instant tree canopy along a sunny stretch of the Riverwalk Park in Fort Lauderdale’s downtown.
A “green” program of the Riverwalk Trust in partnership with the City of Fort Lauderdale, Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony is dedicated to saving trees on privately-owned properties that would otherwise be lost, by transplanting them in the Riverwalk Park and other local public spaces.
“Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony has real potential as a model for communities striving to conserve trees for public benefit,” said Phil Thornburg, the City’s director of parks and recreation, one of the program’s leaders. “We’re working to create an ongoing network of developers, architects, planners, contractors and individual residents who will encourage donation of trees from construction sites.
The Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony initiative matches healthy, donated trees with receptor sites and guides donors in preparing trees for transport, obtaining permits, moving trees to the new location and replanting. Donors bear the cost of removing and transporting trees, and City crews receive and replant them. “An amazing group of volunteers pooled their talents to create Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony as a sustainable, long-term community initiative,” said Scott Strawbridge, Riverwalk Trust board member who, with committee member Kathy Schauer, envisioned the program. “The goals are replacing trees along the Riverwalk that were lost to disease or other natural causes, saving established trees at development sites from an untimely death – and enhancing the shade canopy for Riverwalk,” Strawbridge added.
Donor A1A Clipper, LLC had been preparing to remove the 14 palms from its beachfront hotel property, where construction is underway to transform the former Yankee Clipper Hotel to the soon-to-open Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel. “When our landscape design consultant EDSA brought the Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony program to our attention, we were delighted that established trees up to 50 feet tall could find a new home instead of being destroyed,” said Robert Geimer, senior vice president, Starwood Capital Group Global.
Transplanting the massive trees was an exercise in precision. Within 36 hours, A1A Clipper’s contractor removed and transported the trees on a flatbed truck, and the City’s landscape crews replanted them along a 130-foot stretch of Riverwalk Park behind the Broward County Courthouse.
The location was far from arbitrary. Months ago, as Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony began to take shape, the City’s Urban Forester Gene Dempsey and Chief Horticulturalist Jim Romeo surveyed the mile-long Riverwalk Park, using GPS technology to pinpoint locations where different tree species can thrive. That plan has in turn already been aligned with the Riverwalk District Arts & Entertainment Public Realm Plan that expert national design consultants are now formulating for the Riverwalk area.
“Initially, trees are being transplanted to the Riverwalk Park,” Thornburg explained. “As the program grows, it can add lasting beauty and shade to many of our public spaces.“ For information on Riverwalk Trust Tree Harmony, visit www.goriverwalk.com
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