Facilities and Operations has installed benches along the southwest plot on College Walk adjacent to Pulitzer Hall to add more casual seating areas. Following the bench installation, an assortment of seasonal flowers are being added to the landscaping around the benches. The benches are in place as an immediate replacement to the trees that required removal while a full strategy for the flora and landscaping at College Walk is considered.
The Grounds team conducts periodic surveying of trees on campus in consultation with professional arborists to inform care plans and ensure we have healthy trees. As a result of the assessment, the arborist recommended that several trees on College Walk be removed due to the trees' declining health, including trunk decay and other irreversible conditions, with more removals at College Walk possible this summer.
Several considerations will be factored into the long-term approach, with curated plantings that can thrive in a particular space and campus beauty most prominent among them. According to the Grounds team and professional arborists, many of the trees that were removed grew too large for the space they were given. The trees’ roots naturally sought to extend further than the tree plots allowed, and they crowded other neighboring trees, thereby stunting the growth and blossoming of the other trees.
The Grounds team will also consider McKim Mead and White’s original intent in determining the plan going forward. In all cases, the Grounds team will take the same thought, care, and commitment to the beauty of College Walk and value of trees that they take throughout our historic, urban Morningside campus.
