One of the highest-profile trees in the state, the huge Norway maple that stood next to the Memorial Arch in front of the State House, may be gone, but it’s not forgotten.
“We’re working with the urban forester for the state of New Hampshire and the Administrative Services team, coming up with a planting plan for the plaza,” said Terry Praff, chief operating officer for the General Court. “We’ll probably do some plantings in the spring with some big trees so they’ll provide shade right away.”
The massive maple that decorated the State House for a century was removed in January after years of effort to keep it alive. When the tree started dropping big branches on the walkway, it was time for it to go.
“The heart of it was completely eaten up by carpenter ants. It was held together with cables,” said Praff. A large birch was taken down at the same time due to disease, leading to discussion about the future layout of the State House plaza, which Pfaff calls “the state’s town square.”
The issue came up with the new Christa McAuliffe statue, which some people wanted placed in a more wide-open spot for greater visibility, said Pfaff. That ran up against the plaza’s role as a space for celebrations, protests and other big gatherings.
“We do have to keep it open for when we have crowds there,” he said. “Monument locations are going to have to be individual, done tastefully so the front plaza remains open for people to gather. It’s their first amendment right.”
While details of new locations for trees are being worked out, Pfaff said he expected that the 1892 Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch would be kept open. The Norway maple had grown to block part of its opening.
“I think we’ll have shade trees of different types to create a decent canopy on each side,” he said.
The plan is to prioritize species native to New Hampshire — which is a little ironic, since the Norway maple was perhaps the state’s largest example of an invasive species out-competing local trees.
The state is now trying to remove Norway maple and other invasive plants from our forests, but a century ago, that wasn’t a concern. Many places encouraged the planting of imported species for decorative or habitat reasons, and until a few decades ago, a number of invasive species that New Hampshire is now trying to eradicate were being sold by the state.
One species that won’t be planted are elm trees designed to resist the blight which wiped out the tall, vase-shaped elms that once filled the State House plaza.
“I’d like to put the elms back like they were in the 1930s” Pfaff said. Blight-resistant elms, made by cross-breeding with Asian elms, don’t meet his criteria. “A lot of them don’t really look like elms.”
Pfaff noted that regardless of which decisions are made about future plantings, keeping trees healthy in the plaza isn’t easy.
“It’s an urban environment. There’s heat, pollution, poor soils. When we plant we have to dig up enough to put in soil to meet standards,” said Pfaff.
