City street department workers trained on tree pruning

| April 10, 2013
Kevin Sharier, cemetery supervisor, was one of the Coshocton city street department workers who was trained in the correct way to prune and trim trees by Wess McCullough from McCullough Tree Services on Tuesday, April 9 at the Pomerene Center. The city is working on improving their urban forestry for this year’s Coshocton is Blooming.

Kevin Sharier, cemetery supervisor, was one of the Coshocton city street department workers who was trained in the correct way to prune and trim trees by Wess McCullough from McCullough Tree Services on Tuesday, April 9 at the Pomerene Center. The city is working on improving their urban forestry for this year’s Coshocton is Blooming.

COSHOCTON – A four-man crew from McCullough Tree Services was in Coshocton yesterday, April 9, to not only prune the trees at the Pomerene for the Arts Center, located at the corner of Mulberry and Third Streets, but to train city street department workers on how to properly care for and prune trees in the area.

The tree trimming was overseen by certified arborist, Wess McCullough. This is the first time the trees at the Pomerene Center have been pruned since 2005.

McCullough Tree Services was referred to the Pomerene Center by Kerry Rapp at Clary Gardens. The crew had done some work at Clary Gardens in the past, and when Cornell announced she needed the trees at the Center pruned, Rapp suggested McCullough.

“The reason I recommended them was because Wess is a certified arborist and he had done some work for us at Clary Gardens,” said Rapp. “He’s a regional expert on proper pruning and tree removal techniques.”

The reason the city has started focusing more on its trees is from comments and suggestions made by America in Bloom judges over the years. Coshocton started participating in American in Bloom in 2010. From that experience came Coshocton is Blooming, which is the local group that sponsors America in Bloom each year. Judges visit Coshocton and focus their attention on six areas in the city. One area, where they found the city is weak, is in urban forestry.

“That led us to do something more and to improve our efforts,” said Bill Freund, president of Coshocton is Blooming.

Since then, Coshocton is Blooming has been involved with ODNR to see how they could work together to change the city’s local forestry. Their expectation is to have a tree ordinance in the city to help care for and maintain the trees. The first step was to assess the trees with a tree inventory and see what needed to be done, which has been completed thanks to a $25,000 donation from the Coshocton Foundation. Now, they are focusing on finding funding to hire professionals to work with the trees.

The tree trimming at the Pomerene Center was made possible by a donation in memory of Edmund and Barbara Bell who were great friends of the Pomerene Center. Because of the donation, both the tree trimming and the training were free of charge.

Kevin Sharier, cemetery supervisor, was one of the city workers on hand who benefited from McCullough’s training. Sharier said he learned the reason the trees in the cemetery were decaying was because they were being pruned in the wrong places. Because of the training provided by McCullough and his crew, the trees can now be better maintained and cared for.

“One of the primary reasons to trim your trees properly is to extend the health of the trees and make them safe,” said McCullough. “If they are taken care of, they last for generations. If you don’t take care of your trees or mistreat your trees, you can ruin them.”

McCullough also said that pruning also helps to reduce the weight the tree has to bear and keeps the tree healthy and strong. Removing dead and hanging branches is also a must to reduce potential dangerous situations with motorists and pedestrians.

McCullough and his three-man crew were working in the Pomerene Center trees April 8 – 9, climbing the tall oak tree facing Third Street multiple times, which, according to McCullough, may be the tallest tree the crew has ever climbed.

“I appreciate their talents and seeing their progress,” said McCullough about his crew, “It gives me a chance to do some mentoring and one-on-one.”

Cornell was very impressed with McCullough’s crew and their work on the trees. To request more information about McCullough’s Tree Services, call the Pomerene Center at 622-0326 or email [email protected]. For every $500 job that is referred by the Center, they will receive $100 worth of work for free.

“We not only feel like we’re taking care of our trees, but we’re making a statement that this is the thing to do in Coshocton, to take care of our trees,” said Cornell.

McCullough Tree Services have offices in Zanesville, Grandville, and Columbus.

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About the Author ()

I have been employed at the Coshocton County Beacon since September 2009 as a news reporter and assistant graphic artist. I am a 2004 graduate of Newcomerstown High School and a 2008 graduate of Capital University with a bachelor’s degree in Professional Writing. I am married to John Scott and live in Newcomerstown. We have two beautiful daughters, Amelia Grace Scott and Leanna Rose Scott.

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  1. Thanks for covering the story. Awesome Article

  2. Thanks for covering the story. Awesome Article