Forestry Division

Girls Planting Tree

The Forestry Division maintains and improves the urban forest through "out of the box" approaches that will foster ownership by Hartford residents as well as maximize the resources for our green infrastructure.

Heather Dionne, City Forester

Heather Dionne City ForesterHeather is a licensed arborist in CT, with the International Society of Arboriculture, and is a DEEP certified supervising products harvester.  Since 2012,she has been managing an urban forest that includes 434 shoulder road miles and almost 3,000 acres of greenspace and forestland. She works daily to encourage decision makers to see trees as a necessity and to educate the public on the importance of trees, climate change and proper arboricultural practices.

Heather studied Urban and Community Forestry at Unity College in Maine.

 

The City of Hartford’s Forestry Division is working with our tree planting contractors to plant trees in areas of great need throughout the city. Recent droughts (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 & 2022) along with invasive insects have decimated many of our precious trees, impacting our canopy cover. If you receive a door hanger indicating a tree planting will occur, we hope that you will accept the tree and help us nurture it, to grow strong and healthy. Every tree counts and is very important for our own health and vitality.

We are currently working in the Blue Hills, South Meadows, Sheldon-Charter Oak, South Green and Frog Hollow neighborhoods to conduct thorough tree maintenance, which includes removing hazardous trees, pruning and stump grinding. We will also focus on these neighborhoods for tree planting. If there is no space on city property to plant a tree, you may be asked if we can plant one on your front yard. Tree selection is very thorough as we plant smaller trees under power lines so they do not cause issues in the future.

Thanks for being a steward of our urban forest and thinking about the future of Hartford!

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Let's Get Your New Tree Off to a Good Start

Step 1. Water Your Tree

  • Newly planted trees - those that have been in the ground less than two years require 25 gallons of water, approximately 1.5 inches of rainfall, per week to survive.

Step 2: Keep weed whackers and lawn mowers clear from trees

  • Avoid damaging the trunk of the tree by staying away from the tree when using weed whackers and lawn mowers. Mechanical injury to the trunk will cause long-term problems for your tree.

Step 3. Mulch Each Season

  • Mulching will keep the soil moist and control weeds naturally.
  • When mulching:
    • Use shredded bark or leaf compost.
    • Apply using the 3-3-3 rule: 3 inches of mulch in a 3-foot ring with a 3-inch space around the tree trunk.
    • Avoid volcano mulching (mulching too high up the trunk of the tree). Keep the mulch from touching the trunk of the tree.

Step 4: DO NOT PRUNE TREE

  • The City will maintain all trees planted within the tree belt. Please do not prune newly planted trees.

Purpose: To advise the City Forester, Council, and Mayor on tree-related issues and promote awareness of tree care, Hartford’s arboreal heritage, and benefits of urban forest Initial Duties 

The Commission develops and adopts a Master Tree Plan within 18 months; reviews the plan every five years and amends it as needed; creates an annual “State of the Forest” report; prepares policy and action recommendations to submit to Mayor and Council; hears and decides appeals from City Forester; and establishes a Legacy Tree Program 

The Forestry Division works closely with and is supported by the Tree Commission.

The Members are as follows:

  • Jack Hale, Chair
  • Charmaine Craig, Vice Chair
  • Heather Dionne, City Forester
  • Mark Fisher
  • Chris Hayes
  • Greg Secord
  • Claudio Bazzano
  • Craig Mergins
  • Vanessa Walton
  • Wildaliz Bermudez

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