BRADENTON – Eighteen trees that were installed in medians in 2006 on Manatee Avenue, using Bradenton Tree Funds, state grants and private donations, are slated for removal by Manatee County.
Ingrid McClellan, Scenic Manatee Coordinator, and author of the 2006 grant proposals that funded the median landscaping, said the landscaped medians project from 75th Street West to 27th Street East cost $159,115, and were installed with the cooperation of the City of Bradenton’s Tree and Land Preservation board to increase the city’s urban tree canopy.
FDOT issued a permit for the proposed plantings on Oct. 23, she said.
The plans are for Manatee County dollars to be used to remove 18 established trees (eight black olive shady lady, eight crape myrtle and two paurotis palm) in five medians on Manatee Avenue between 75th Street West and 43rd Street West. The trees do not require an irrigation system, but the new trees will require up to four irrigation wells, she said – 19 royal palms, four alexander palms, shrubs and groundcover… “then maintenance thereafter of palm frond pruning, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides,” she wrote. “Doing so does not follow the Florida-Friendly Landscaping Principles.”
She noted that royal palms are “self-pruning,” dropping their 20-40-pound fronds, which can damage vehicles on parking lots and roads.