St. Augustine doesn’t have enough trees, according to the city.
The latest urban tree inventory conducted by the Streets & Grounds department found trees cover less than a quarter of St. Augustine’s public and private lands.
Department manager Charlene Putz said the trees are relatively healthy. The problem is there aren’t enough of them.
“We have a lot of live oaks; they’re very old. Most of the ones on public land are in very good shape. But again, a lot of it comes to the private sector. So we’re trying to develop some plans to plant more young trees where we can and get residents to plant more trees on their private property.”
Recommendations based on the tree census call for the city of St. Augustine to:
- Take a more pro-active approach to tree maintenance
- Develop a strategy for adding new trees, one that doesn’t include live oaks and palm trees
- Hire a field arborist
You can read St. Augustine's full Urban Forestry Management Plan here.