By Stephen Appezzato
FAIR HAVEN – The Shade Tree Commission launched its inaugural resident tree-buying program this month, offering a range of locally grown trees to residents to bolster the borough’s canopy.
The program is a partnership with Bordentown-based Fernbrook Farms Nursery. According to Shade Tree Commission member Jill Sullivan, the mastermind behind the initiative, the tree-buying program is modeled after similar ones in other area towns.
“What was so appealing is that it was really a relationship that is just managed by the shade tree commission. The transaction is done between the nursery and the homeowner, we’re here to facilitate the process,” she said.
Sullivan anticipates Fernbrook’s “well-established system” will easily take root in Fair Haven.
Residents can select from a variety of ornamental flowering, shade and evergreen trees from the program catalog. Once orders are placed, residents pay Fernbrook Farms directly. Each order includes delivery, professional planting and a one-year tree guarantee.
“They (Fernbrook) were really great with describing trees that would work well in our area, questioning how far we were from the ocean to consider salt spray and stuff like that, whether or not the trees would be more appropriate to plant in the fall versus the spring,” Sullivan said.
All of the trees are locally grown at the nursery, and “are known to grow well in the state of New Jersey,” she said.
The shade tree commission anticipates tree planting will begin in late September. It is recommended that residents are present at the time of planting as Fernbrook can give helpful tips on how to ensure the health and strength of each tree.
The initiative has been well-received by residents, according to Sullivan.
“Fair Haven has a wonderful canopy but it’s also an aging canopy,” she noted. “As trees have to come down because they’re dying or diseased, of course we want to be able to replace them and hopefully this will give residents an opportunity to do so,” she said.
In the future, the commission looks to expand the program to include a spring planting, too.
“The shade tree commission is here to protect Fair Haven’s trees, promote the growth of the canopy and maintain the canopy. This is just one of the ways that we hope to achieve that goal,” said Sullivan.
For more information on the resident tree-buying program and to access the online order form, visit the borough’s website at fairhavennj.org.
The article originally appeared in the August 17 – 23, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
