Village of East Aurora Tree Board

04/23/2026

We had a perfect sunny day to celebrate our 26th annual Arbor Day at the high school! 🌳

This year, students rolled up their sleeves and planted three beautiful trees—a red oak, American linden, and sweetgum. Not a bad way to spend a warm day outside!

Tomorrow, Parkdale will plant one of their own following the bike bus arrival!

Here’s to growing roots in our community for many years to come. 🌱

04/03/2026

Let's Get Planting 2026! (Or, Your Front Yard Is Judging You)

Were you aware that the Village of East Aurora runs a tree planting program every Spring? If you live in the village, call the DPW or message us here RIGHT NOW and score a FREE street tree for your front yard!

East Aurorans of all stripes enjoy real, tangible benefits from our street tree canopy: lower energy costs, higher property values, cleaner air, and the general satisfaction of living somewhere that looks nice.

These trees earn their keep, but they don't have it easy. Salty road snow, invasive pests, the occasional wandering bumper, and overzealous utility crews all take their toll. Thankfully, your Village Board had the foresight years ago to budget for new trees every single year, so the green streets keep growing.

Here's how it works: interested residents and property owners (village limits only, sorry townies!) request a tree, and friendly members of your village Tree Board will swing by to scout your front yard for good planting spots. They'll suggest native species suited to your space. For ex, if you've got a bigger open space, oak and basswood are outstanding choices, providing mega shade, wildlife habitat, and serious curb appeal for generations. In May, the DPW crew plants and protects your new tree.

Your job after that? Water it. That's it.

This is first-come, first-served with limited supply, so don't sleep on it. Contact the DPW at 652-6057, message us here, or email [email protected] to ask questions or, better yet, claim your free tree.

Did I mention they're free?

03/11/2026

In the Advertiser last Thursday: Many thanks to Mr Steven Hatch for his kind letter last week! I'd love to take an opportunity to respond to his many fair points. First, I'd encourage anyone else with questions or concerns to continue to write to the Advertiser, connect with our group of merry treehuggers on Facebook, or via email at [email protected].

As a board we've been looking at lists of preferred (and undesirable) trees for quite some time, to have them available on the village website and be in contact with developers and others looking to decide how to landscape our fair village. We're happy to share what we've learned with anyone who's interested!

Mr. Hatch mentions the lack of maple trees on our list. We love maple trees! Mine have been tapped and I'm probably boiling sap as you read this. The village simply has too many already. At last estimate, over 60% of all the trees in the village are some species of maple. For biodiversity' sake and to prevent another chestnut/elm/ash disaster, experts suggest no more than 10% of any single species should make up an urban canopy.

He's correct that the London plane tree (Platanus × hispanica) has been planted worldwide as a street tree. There are quite a few around East Aurora - look for the 'sick' bark shedding in chunks. They're a hybrid of American sycamore, which demands much wetter soil than we see along our streets. Our sycamores look very similar, but while London plane trees have a greenish tint to fresh bark, sycamores are bone white. You can see examples of those along Cazenovia Creek heading south on 16 or the 400, their white trunks standing out before the leaves start to awaken.

Pollarding is a tried-and-true pruning method that has been used at least since ancient Rome. It's meant for two purposes: to keep trees at a shorter, more manageable height and to prevent livestock from eating new shoots. It has a very distinct look - you either love it or hate it. It does cost more in yearly maintenance, and I'm not sold on its performance given our abundant snowfall. The expert recommendation we use these days is simpler: If you want a tree to stay under a power line, just plant a tree that grows shorter!

We'd love to see every street tree last a hundred years, but cars and salty snow make for a pretty tough environment. East Aurora DOES have a few elderly trees still thriving, and the village maintains a new "heritage list" of trees that receive extra care and attention. We want to see that list grow!

Our list of preferred trees won't be exhaustive - nearly every tree has some quality to make it worth planting. We have to start somewhere, and our list includes trees historically found in Western NY, plus Pennsylvania and Ohio. Why? Research is well-established now that so-called 'native' trees support far more biodiversity than non-natives. Many insects are specialists, their mouth parts and guts evolved to eat and digest only specific plants. Hundreds (!) of moth and butterfly caterpillars rely on native oak trees, for example. You may not care about the bugs, maybe you'd even prefer there to be fewer, but birds hungrily disagree! For example our gregarious friends the chickadees need hundreds of caterpillars to feed their chicks, every day! No bugs, no birds.

Part of the code that established our tree board states that we "will strive to raise consciousness of the importance of trees to the Village". Biodiversity is critical to the life and health of all living things and we think tree selection is an important piece of this. Keep in touch!

01/20/2026

How are your trees handling the latest layers of snow? ❄️ Maybe better than we think!

01/07/2026

The Erie County Soil and Water Conservation District seedling sale Is also on now until the end of February. Great selection of native trees and shrubs!🌲🌳

It is the mission of the District to protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the present and future generations of Erie County residents through the conservation of soil, water, air, plant and animal resources by delivery of sound, science-based, locally-directed, technical a....

01/07/2026

Plan your spring planting! 🌳🌲

Start planning for spring planting! DEC’s Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery has dozens of New York-grown tree and shrub species available for low prices now through May 13. Some species sell out fast, so check species availability and see how to place your order using the link below. Every tree planted counts toward New York State’s goal to plant 25 million trees by 2033!

Currently, we have seedlings for:
🌱 Annual Spring Seedling Sale - available for public and private plantings in New York State and bordering states.
🌱 School Seedling Program - available for educators and youth club leaders. Eligible classes and clubs are encouraged to apply before March 27 and will receive free tree seedlings to plant with their students.