• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Environment/Sustainability
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • 2021 Town Election
  • Bulletin Board
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Dumping holiday greenery in Wellesley, the right way

January 12, 2018 by Deborah Brown 3 Comments

There’s a right way and a wrong way to dump holiday greenery in Wellesley. The Natural Resources Commission had seen Christmas trees dumped in parks and recreation areas, in Boulder Brook, at Rocky Ledges, and near the vernal pool in Kelly Field. The thing about just tossing them hither and yon with the idea that they’ll decompose eventually, is the eventually part. They take pretty much forever to go from ashes to ashes and dust to dust, and in the meantime the unwanted greenery can clog wetlands.

Here’s the right way to get rid of greenery:

Bringing Christmas trees and greenery to the RDF is the right way to dispose of them. This pile at the dump will eventually be ground into wood chips. From there, it will be used around town at playgrounds and for landscaping. Photo credit to a sharp-eyed reader who prefers to remain anonymous.

Here’s the wrong way to get rid of greenery:

This tree was dumped at the vernal pool near Kelly Field last winter. The frogs and salamanders there simply don’t have the equipment, training, or work ethic to deal with it. That’s a job for the RDF.

 

Decomposing Christmas trees at Kelly Memorial Park woods. (Photo via Wellesley NRC, 2016)

Now that you mention it, there is one other way…

Wellesley Christmas tree by burn pile
Here at Swellesley Manor, we’ve got our own way of disposing of our Christmas trees, and it’s all on the up and up. This is our tree next to the burn pile. Come spring, we’ll have our yearly burn and the tree will go up in flames so high I’ll wonder what that thing was doing in my house in the first place.
Wellesley spring burn, 2017
My able crew of pyromaniacs have just tossed the Christmas tree onto the burn pile, Spring 2017. This pic reminds me that it’s time for me to go down to the Route 9 fire station and get my burn permit. Here’s the entire post.

More pictures of my winter yard:

Wellesley, winter yard
This big branch liberated itself from our huge pine tree. It will get tossed onto the burn pile as soon as we can pull it out of the snow and ice. So there it will sit for a couple of months. Or maybe the river will rise and claim it for its own.
Wellesley winter yard
Look closely and you’ll see the most beautiful wasps’ nest. I can’t believe I sat reading all summer long directly underneath it, never knowing an entire hive of workers toiled right above me.
Other creatures have been busy, too. Something tells me the beavers are in flagrant violation of all NRC and Wetlands Committee rules regarding altering vegetation on the river.
Wellesley winter yard
The beavers have gnawed five trees on a small spit of land called Sometimes Island. Sometimes the narrow strip is an island, and sometimes it’s submerged.
The stick house on Sometimes Island. Both the snowman standing guard and the small table came from the RDF’s Give and Take Area, which is closed for the winter. Kids love to canoe or kayak by to see the who’s the latest Stick House resident.
The Charles River is frozen all the way across, for now. The rain that’s expected to start later today combined with temperatures in the 50s on Friday and Saturday will loosen the ice’s hold on the river.

There are lots of animal tracks, and even scat, out there on the river. Every spring when I’m out in the kayak I see the grisly evidence that at least one creature fell through and didn’t make it out.
print

Share

Filed Under: Animals, Dump, Environment, Outdoors, Weather

Comments

  1. nancy smith says

    January 12, 2018 at 9:25 pm

    Love all these pictures and posts! Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Susan says

    January 12, 2018 at 8:42 pm

    Interesting story. It is hard to believe anyone would wantonly leave their tree on public land to rot. Where is Sometimes Island?

    Reply
    • Deborah Brown says

      January 13, 2018 at 8:48 am

      Susan, it’s just my name for a patch of land in the Charles River that sometimes is visible and sometimes not. It’s across from Elm Bank Reservation.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wellesley Youth Lacrosse

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« March 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
28
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
Fri 05

Wellesley Select Board online office hours

March 5 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Fri 05

Open House at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

March 5 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Sun 07

World of Wellesley community book read

March 7 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Wed 10

Open House at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

March 10 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Wed 17

Wellesley Police Department & Red Cross blood drive

March 17 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • Wellesley summer camp listings 2021 — find the experience of a lifetime
  • World of Wellesley community book read, Mar. 7th
  • Newton-Wellesley Orthopedic Walk-In—no appointment needed
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Free meters ending; Restaurant could fill Gap spot; Semester Off has offer for school & healthcare workers
  • Wellesley man dies while mountain biking in Ipswich

Pages

  • Guidelines for Letters to the Editor
  • How to submit your flyer for the Community Bulletin Board page
  • Wellesley Community Bulletin Board
  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Gail Marshall on Wellesley’s scenic roads
  • Bob Brown on Wellesley Business Buzz: Wellesley Tavern to open; More small business grants; virtual networking coffee
  • Patrick Rafter on Wellesley Business Buzz: Wellesley Tavern to open; More small business grants; virtual networking coffee
  • EM on Wellesley Police log: Road rage leads to coffee toss; overdose on fentanyl patches attempted; window broken, no rock found
  • Lew on Wellesley Police log: Road rage leads to coffee toss; overdose on fentanyl patches attempted; window broken, no rock found

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (19)
  • Animals (381)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (540)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (344)
  • Business (1,371)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (209)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,896)
    • Babson College (240)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (890)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (44)
  • Entertainment (724)
  • Environment (674)
  • Fashion (134)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (142)
  • Food (328)
  • Fundraising (561)
  • Gardens (137)
  • Government (410)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (746)
    • COVID-19 (141)
  • History (359)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (120)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (816)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (13)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (97)
  • Music (544)
  • Natick Report (28)
  • Neighbors (249)
  • Obituaries (60)
  • Outdoors (585)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (696)
    • Crime (351)
  • Politics (545)
  • Real estate (290)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (303)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (110)
  • Shopping (123)
  • Sports (901)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (210)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,207)
  • Volunteering (319)
  • Weather (167)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (259)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login