Natick Will Replace Trees Culled Due To Emerald Ash Borer

NATICK, MA — Natick will replace a row of ash trees culled over the summer due to an emerald ash borer infestation with three new species, according to the Public Works Department.

The town had to cut down the row of ash trees along Park Street in July. It was the first appearance in Natick of the invasive ash borer, which have infested and killed countless ash trees along the East Coast since first appearing in the U.S. in 2002.

The town's replacement plan was drafted by Stephen Cosmos of Cosmos Associates, the landscape architect who helped redesign the 1840s-era common in the 1980s.

Cosmos' plan calls for nine new trees to be planted along Park Street. There will be one Amur maackia tree planted on the north and south ends of the Park Street side of the common. The tree produces a white flower in summer. Below the northernmost Amur maackia will be a stand of three wildfire sweetgum trees, and then four Elizabeth magnolia trees, which produce large, fragrant flowers in the spring.

"This plan was developed with careful consideration to complement the existing Town Common planting design, to provide shade where shade was lost, and to provide a new experience with specimen trees," Land Facilities and Natural Resources Supervisor Arthur Goodhind wrote in a letter about the plan to the Board of Selectmen on Dec. 4.

The town expects to buy the trees this winter and begin planing in spring 2021.