Brookhaven establishes Osborne Nursery to create free foliage and increase tree canopy
City Arborist Jeff Dadisman rescues dormant saplings from the Public Safety Building construction site.
Brookhaven, GA, April 4, 2023 – The City of Brookhaven has established a nursery at Osborne Park to cultivate indigenous trees, which will ultimately be given to Brookhaven residents and developers at no cost to preserve Brookhaven’s tree canopy.
“These trees will be available once they reach a certain level of maturity,” said Brookhaven Arborist Jeff Dadisman. “Almost all of these trees are large growing species- to be grown at the nursery for a few years and then released to Brookhaven residents free of charge.”.”
The initiative is a part of the City’s ongoing Sustainable Brookhaven Initiative, which is a way of governing and managing in pursuit of lasting economic, social, and environmental development that seeks to avoid and prevent the depletion or permanent damage of Brookhaven’s resources, which include the environment.
“Sustainable Brookhaven is committed to protecting our natural resources,” said Assistant City Manager Patrice Ruffin Dowdell. “Managing our tree canopy in this way costs almost nothing. It just requires a mindset to preserve indigenous trees whenever the opportunity presents itself.”
Case in point: During construction of Brookhaven’s new Public Safety Building, the disturbed soil and wet weather produced dozens of seedling “volunteers” that were relocated prior to landscaping the facility.
The half-acre at the new Osborne Nursery will have the capacity for almost 250 trees. The species chosen for re-population are all indigenous to this area, which means additional care should be minimal to non-existent, and not widely available or well-stocked by local nurseries. The species that are planted and/or ordered are:
- White Oak (Quercus alba)
- Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)
- Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata)
- Scarlett Oak (Quercus coccinea)
- Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
- Winged Elm (Ulmus alata)
- Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
- American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- American Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
- Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
- Pignut Hickory (Quercus glabra)
“Once again, this is another demonstration of Brookhaven’s commitment to preserving our tree canopy, our most valuable natural resource,” said District 2 Councilman John Park. “We have some of the most robust ordinances regarding tree removal. Now we also have an easy way to repopulate and replenish trees that die or need to be removed.”
