To the Editor:

Trees are on my mind! I lived in Princeton for many, many years and one of my memories has to do with that space next to the McCaffrey’s parking lot. When my children were growing up, a traveling circus would come to town once a year and where did they set up? On the space in the midst those now beautiful tall pine trees. For years those trees have serviced Princeton with their ever deepening roots sequestering much carbon and holding back more water from flooding the surrounding area. If they are mowed down now to make it more convenient for the builder to construct housing, much will be lost. Are we really interested in taking care of our environment? Then every old statuesque tree that we kill is one more action that declares hypocrisy. With a creative approach, these could be saved.

One more item: The current mulching methods used by the majority of landscaping services are actually killing your trees. Every year more mulch is piled up around the trunk creating an environment of extreme moisture that then breeds rot and insects that destroy the trapped bark. Placed four inches from the surface of the tree or bush and only to a depth of three inches will be safe to spread. The chemical formula used for the black and red dyed mulches is not available and can contain poisonous chemicals such as arsenic — as can the wood that is chopped up for the mulch itself.

Ah trees — one of our planet’s lifesavers if we take care of them and plant the ones that support our native pollinators.

Judith K. Robinson
Columbia Avenue, Hopewell