New trees grace Main Street in downtown Laconia

LACONIA — Several new businesses have been getting established in the city’s downtown in recent months. And now, new trees are starting to take root there as well.

Seventeen new trees have been planted along Main Street between Hanover Street and Veterans Square.

Crews from Belknap Landscape Co. planted the trees last month, according to Amy Lovisek, director of parks and facilities for the city.

The new trees replace the ones removed in March, which were not suited for their spaces along Main and Pleasant streets, Lovisek said.

The new trees are a mix of red maples, a variety of ginkgo called Princeton Sentry, and honey locust with the botanical name of Gleditsia.

Those three varieties were chosen because they are salt-resistant and when grown will have a more columnar shape so their branches, unlike the old trees, will not extend over the street where they could interfere with high-clearance trucks.

In addition to planting the trees themselves, the workers enlarged the tree beds to give more room for the trees’ roots to grow, ground the stumps of the old trees, and repaired sections of sidewalk that had been heaved by the roots of the old trees.

These planting are the first phase of the tree replacement plan, Lovisek said. Under the second phase trees will be planted along the lower portion of Pleasant Street and in the parking lot between Main and Pleasant streets. Plans call for that to occur in two years, she said.

Urban planners are increasingly recommending planting trees in downtown areas, saying that trees create a “sense of space” considered important in downtown retail. Doing business in downtowns has become more of a shared experience with family and friends, and trees enhance a downtown’s draw, making it more comfortable and memorable for shoppers.