New Rochelle firm is doctor to 4,000 NYC trees

When Governors Island off Manhattan officially opens for tourists June 2, visitors can commune with trees that were acorns during the Ulysses S. Grant administration.
The task of preserving those trees falls to Almstead Tree and Shrub Care Co. of New Rochelle, which began a tree renewal project on the island in January in preparation for the historic site”™s opening to visitors. The company was awarded a two-year contract at the beginning of this year by the city and state of New York, which took joint control of the island from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2003. Historically, the island was home to the U.S. Army and Coast Guard and served to defend New York Harbor in the early 19th century.
Almstead”™s goal is to preserve the historic nature on the island, while keeping its trees healthy and safe by performing selective pruning practices geared to improve structure and by removing dead and inferior limbs, said Ken Almstead, chief executive officer of the family-owned company.
“We were awarded a contract to come in and prune and maintain about 4,000 trees,” on the island, he said.
Dead and hazardous trees are being assessed for removal and are all being replaced by the same or greater-in-quality species trees in order to sustain the forest, he said. In addition, 100 trees each year will be labeled with tree tags, which display both the botanical and common name.
“If a tree is deemed hazardous, we will remove it and replace it,” Alsmtead said.
A portion of the trees on the island were planted by the Works Projects Administration in the early 1930s, while others date as far back as the 1870”™s.
Several of the trees are in need of replacement due to health and safety issues such as internal rot, decay and disease, which can be detrimental to the future health of the remaining trees.
“We could save (the oldest of the trees),” said Almstead. “A lot of those mature trees are in very good health and vigor and we”™re doing what we can to preserve that.”
Before any trees were removed, Almstead worked with an underground explosive expert and an archaeologist to inspect the site.
“Due to the history of the island, whenever a stump is rooted or soil is excavated for installation of a new tree replacement, the site first needs to be surveyed by an underground explosive expert to ensure there are no potential hazards and an archaeologist must be on-site in case an artifact is found,” said Almstead.
Almstead can measure the amount of decay and rot in trees using a high-tech piece of equipment called a resistograph.
The resistograph has a 19-inch drill bit that is 1/8-inch in diameter. It measures resistance and graphs it out on a piece of paper almost like a seismograph, Alsmtead said.
“It shows us the rings of growth and the amount of decay and hollow wood,” he said.
Generally speaking, tress at least 33 percent hollow cannot be saved, although in some cases trees that are up to 70 percent hollow can be saved, depending on other factors, such as amount of rot.
Replacement trees were hand-selected from regional nurseries and growers by an Almstead-certified arborist and were planted in early May. The species that have been chosen for the replacement trees are Black Pine, Golden Weeping Willow, Red Sunset Maple, Honey Locust and Littleleaf Linden.