Brunswick will celebrate the opening of its new tree nursery on Industry Road on May 21 at 10 a.m.

“As the climate changes and it gets warmer, we see more and more insects and diseases come into play,” Town Arborist Dennis Wilson said. “These various insects and diseases could cause significant loss of trees here in town. However, any insects or diseases that may come to destroy a single species of trees, the nursery will help us replant them faster and help us manage and plan that so the devastation will be a smaller footprint.”

The tree nursery will have two raised beds, one for evergreen trees and another for deciduous trees. It will grow pine trees, spruce trees, dawn redwoods and germinations of elms and chestnut trees.

“[The tree nursery] will also give us time to get trees that are not readily available at the height or size we want,” Wilson said. “With the way climate change is and the way some of these trees are passed maturity, we cannot replace them as fast as we would like to. The nursery will allow us to diversify the species of trees in our town.”

The project is a collaboration between the Tree Committee, the Brunswick Parks and Recreation Department, the Brunswick Department of Economic Development, the Brunswick Downtown Association and Brunswick Public Art.

Brunswick Public Art (BPA), an organization that has provided multiple art installations to local public facilities over the years, will be providing artwork for the nursery. BPA secured a grant from the Davis Foundation to hire local artist, Tree Harmon-Hester, to create a multi-part mural. Harmon-Hester collaborated with children attending Family Focus to create three individual murals, parts of which will be included in the nursery project.

“We are desperately in need of trees in our downtown,” Brunswick Public Art President Susan Weems said. “It was time for Brunswick to start producing its own. The trees are appropriate, and the trees that are most suited for being in Maine and used in probably difficult areas like sidewalks is an excellent direction for us to go in.”

The ceremony will occur at the nursery site adjacent to the Senior Garden. It will be led by Wilson and Brunswick’s Tree Committee members.

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