HOULTON, Maine — Houlton’s Public Works Department removed several trees located along Main Street this past week after they failed to survive the winter.
It marks the third time in four years that the town has had to remove dead or dying trees from its downtown.
Back in 2015, the town removed all of the trees from its downtown when several of the trees started to show signs of disease. Those trees had been growing in the downtown for more than 20 years, but had started to drop limbs onto cars.
In May 2015, a total of 25 Japanese lilacs were planted throughout the downtown as part of a Project Canopy grant the town received. Many of those trees, however, did not survive and had to be replaced.
In May 2018, a total of 10 trees were removed from the south side of the downtown and replaced with a variety of different species in the hopes they would thrive. Funds for this project were donated to the town from the Putnam Trust Foundation.
“We have not had much success in keeping the trees alive,” Houlton Town Manager Marian Anderson said.
After consulting with a plant pathologist, the decision was made Monday, July 22, to remove the dead trees located on the southern side of Main Street.
The question of why the trees cannot seem to thrive remains a mystery. Council Chairman Jane Torres said the town has sent away soil samples for testing, but has yet to hear the results of those tests.
“The plant pathologist is stumped,” Torres said. “It was not because of lack of light. The trees we chose do well in the shade.”
Torres added there is also a common problem with dogs urinating on the trees, which could be a contributing factor.
Councilor Raymond Jay, who operates Ray’s Tree Services, said it did not make sense for the town to keep replacing the trees until they find out if there is a problem with the soil. “We need to find out what that test tells us before we make a decision,” he said.
Marie Carmichael, parks and recreation director for the town, suggested the council should consider bringing back the stipend position of Tree Warden, so there was someone monitoring the growth of all the trees in the community.
“Years ago, we had a tree warden,” she said. “It would be nice if we had that expertise to tell us if a tree is a bad one or a good one.”
“I agree,” added councilor Bill McCluskey. “We have a lot of old trees in this town.”
