caption:

Waiting
The Victoria Station Cafe block waiting for replacement trees. Linda Lemmon photo.

New trees
coming
to downtown
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- Passing by the Victoria Station Cafe block downtown, there will be a double take for a while longer.
Last week, the town had four Norway maples on the block removed by Lindon Tree Service Inc. of Eastford. It'll now be umbrella time at the three restaurants' outside dining spaces --- no shady trees.
But two of the maples were dead and the other two were "very compromised," according to Delpha Very,  director of the Putnam Economic and Community Development and Putnam Redevelopment Agency.
Lindon ground down the stumps as much as possible and they are now working with a Massachusetts company to get the stumps ground down further.
In the meantime, four honey locusts are on hold at a local nursery. When the stump work is finished, the trees will be planted, Very said. Because they will be planted in the summertime, deep watering will be called for.  She added that the tree grates  in the space are the correct size and will not be changed.
Very said Lindon Tree "has been a fabulous, professional company to work with. Their work is above and beyond," she said.
The Norway maples, now 25 to 30 years old, are now categorized as an invasive species and not a compliment for urban streetscapes, Very said. Tree varieties with larger leaves are more labor intensive. The honey locust leaves are tiny and will blow away in the autumn wind.
The project is being paid for by the Putnam Redevelopment Agency.