Cobble Hill Tree Fund

Cobble Hill Tree Fund The mission of the Cobble Hill Tree Fund is to plant and care for street trees and in many other ways beautify Cobble Hill and contiguous neighborhoods.

Apple blossom check in 🌸👀
04/14/2026

Apple blossom check in 🌸👀

Snail 🐌
04/12/2026

Snail 🐌

Apple tree flowers start deep pink or almost red and then open to pink, white-ish pink, and full white.
04/11/2026

Apple tree flowers start deep pink or almost red and then open to pink, white-ish pink, and full white.

04/10/2026

a Red Maple tree flowering in early spring before it’s leaf buds open. We planted this tree over the winter with 14 others along Court Street. While not the first species we think of when thinking “flowering tree” there are many trees that flower in smaller less obvious ways. Flowering is an important part of a trees effort to create seeds by making pollen and nectar available to bees and other insects that consume it for nutrients while spreading it around the tree and aiding in pollination, which in turn creates fruit that contains seeds that have the potential to grow into new trees while also providing food for birds and squirrels who help to transport and bury the seeds they don’t eat. Because Red Maples are early risers, they provide food at a crucial time when other trees are still sleeping and bees are starting to wake up.

03/26/2026

Trees can grow almost anywhere, including wedged between the arch facade of a historic building. Dirt and debris blowing in the wind, falling during rain, and collecting inside this wedge created a growing medium, and then a seed found its way inside, maybe from the wind, maybe from a bird stopping by and dropping it in there, and now it’s a sapling.

Skip roots. Sidewalk work is coming to corners along Clinton St and the city has pre-marked which sections of concrete t...
03/26/2026

Skip roots. Sidewalk work is coming to corners along Clinton St and the city has pre-marked which sections of concrete to replace. The NYC Parks Dept has excellent guidelines about protecting tree roots during construction, but they are sometimes misunderstood or ignored by subcontractors hired to do the work. It takes 20 years to grow a tree and 1 day to pour concrete. Tree roots are often seen as a problematic enemy of sidewalks, but it’s easy to shape concrete around a tree root. When possible do your best to avoid cutting large roots, they are the arteries of a mature tree and cutting them can lead to decline in the trees health and stability risk during high winds. Damage to smaller “fine” roots is more tolerable. The thickness of a root indicates it’s age, as with the branches above ground, or the rings of a trunk, the thicker a root is, the older it is. In a well balanced sidewalk the tree roots are down there absorbing water which prevents flooding and erosion. It’s an unlikely pairing, concrete and trees, but it creates the beautiful urban forest that we all enjoy in Brooklyn 🌳🌳❤️

Apple tree flowers beginning to open
03/17/2026

Apple tree flowers beginning to open

Climbing rose waking up from dormancy
03/17/2026

Climbing rose waking up from dormancy

Repotting a shrub rose. Dig around the edge in a circle, lift the entire root ball from underneath, shake the roots like...
03/16/2026

Repotting a shrub rose. Dig around the edge in a circle, lift the entire root ball from underneath, shake the roots like messy hair, let the excess soil fall loose, then place in a new pot, gently adjusting so that the roots are surrounded by their new mix, then water. The ideal time to do this work is a cool cloudy day, even better before or during rain. Roots don’t like to dry out. Keep them out of the sun, cool and moist, work quickly once they’ve been exposed and get them into their new home and moist as soon as possible. If you mess up or need to redo it, don’t worry! Pile some moist soil on the roots and keep them out of the sun. Depending on the state of the previous mix, you may opt to leave the root ball more intact, and just plop it into a new pot with fresh mix surrounding it. Use your best judgement here, is the rose performing poorly in the old mix? Performing well, but needs a bigger pot? Trust your instinct. Roots need air and space to grow, so a potting mix should not be too dense or compacted. It’s always good practice to loosen the outer edges of a rootball to encourage the roots to continue growing outward.

Daffodils coming up. We are a go for spring 🙌
03/05/2026

Daffodils coming up. We are a go for spring 🙌

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Brooklyn, NY
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