Panel Allows Pruning to Augment Community Gardens’ Sun Exposure

The Bedford Conservation Commission has approved pruning trees that are compromising sunlight on much of the George Jordan Community Gardens off Hartwell Road.

“People were saying, ‘Can we do something about the shade?’” said conservation administrator Jeffrey Summers at a recent commission meeting.

Summers said he met at the gardens with John Marquis, who owns Marquis Tree Service of Billerica. “We were thinking about pruning trees on the west and east side of the garden area. They can spend an entire day pruning what they can from the canopy.”

Summers noted that “there are two trees on the west as you enter the area that are leaning over the gardens. These are eventually going to fall. We might as well remove them under the tree hazard policy.”

He added that a portion of “the cute little tree right when you walk in” will have to be removed to permit trucks and other equipment to access the site. 

Commission member Frank Richichi noted that this wasn’t an issue when the land was donated to the town more than a half-century ago because it was pasture.

“We are doing the work that should have been done over the past 25-30 years: maintaining it as a community garden,” Richichi said. “As much as I hate to see a tree compromised, it sounds like a good plan.”

Commission Chair Steve Hagan reminded that the commission recently arranged for soil sample analysis from the site after some gardeners expressed concern about the presence of the chemicals known as PFAS in groundwater at nearby Hanscom Field. 

“If we are going to pay to have soil samples, we should also do the trimming and whatever else is needed to keep the gardens viable,” he said.