ATLANTA (February 3, 2020) – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the City of Brookhaven have begun relocating trees from the Children’s North Druid Hills campus on Tullie Circle to locations throughout Brookhaven, including the new Peachtree Creek Greenway. The project is part of site preparation efforts for the new campus, which will be surrounded by hundreds of hardwood and evergreen trees when complete.
“We are excited to join with Brookhaven in the effort to save and relocate these viable trees,” said Chris Chelette, Vice President of Planning Design and Construction at Children’s. “We are continuing to work hard to make smart decisions about the resources we use and about our environmental impact. Our Center for Advanced Pediatrics is LEED Gold-certified and we’re tracking toward LEED Silver at our newly opened Support Center, as well as the future hospital. So, any step we can take to further our environmental commitment is a good one.”
Brookhaven’s interim development services manager and a certified arborist, Eric Long, was the first to identify the opportunity to relocate the trees. He observed many of the landscape trees in the area appeared in good health and approached Children’s to ask if Brookhaven could save some of the trees.
“Children’s expressed an interest, so I ran the idea by Brookhaven City Manager Christian Sigman, who thoroughly endorsed the idea,” Long said. “Where else can you achieve 100% immediate recycling than by moving a tree from one location to another? This is a unique example of sustainable development, very much in line with the city’s renewed push for achieving overall sustainability.”
In total, approximately 50 trees are viable candidates for a successful relocation. The City of Brookhaven is starting with seven trees, including three red oaks, three large dogwoods and one redbud tree. The remaining 43 trees will be kept in a specially prepared holding nursery in Osborne Park and later transplanted in other city parks or future city developments, such as landscaping for new city buildings.
Native Tree LLC is facilitating the relocation of the trees using two basic root ball sizes. The 90-inch spade will dig trees ranging from 10 to more than 20 feet tall, depending on the canopy spread. The 60-inch spade will be used for trees from 6 feet to 10 feet tall. A 90-inch root ball and tree can weigh up to approximately 9,000 pounds.