24
| March/April 2016
MY DAVEY
A little persistence, some patience and a lot of collaboration helped Davey
become the sole landscape care provider at one of the oldest and largest
cemeteries in New York City.
Woodlawn Cemetery, founded in the Bronx in 1863, is home to nearly 3,500
mature trees, lush lawns and historic landscape architecture–in the form of mau-
soleums and memorials–from architectural greats such as John Russell Pope and
George Post. Its urban tree canopy is a green oasis amidst a sea of gray–buildings,
streets, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces–in the northern-most of the five
Manhattan boroughs.
Two years ago, Davey didn't have a presence in the 400-acre memorial park.
That changed when Mitch Rose, president and CEO of Woodlawn, serendipi-
tously encountered Davey's Don Winsett, vice president of national business
development, at an industry tradeshow and started talking trees. That informal
conversation sparked a volunteer-based educational outreach where Davey spoke
to area children at the cemetery about trees.
Gradually, Winsett and Rose pondered how Davey could help preserve, protect
and maintain the cemetery's many landscape features.
Before partnering with Davey, Woodlawn handled all of its tree and landscape
maintenance either in-house or through multiple sub-contractors. Now, by contract-
ing with Davey, Woodlawn has consolidated landscape maintenance, gained
access to a wealth of knowledge, both through the Davey Institute and partnerships
with tree care industry organizations, and benefitted from new technologies.
Davey's Doak Marasco, operations manager for Davey Resource Group invasive
species management, is developing a comprehensive tree care program for
Woodlawn. He started with a tree-monitoring program to perform a basic tree
assessment of the cemetery's entire 400 acres. The assessment, which precedes
a full tree inventory, prioritized maintenance for trees that pose the highest risk
COLLABORATIVE CARE FOR BRONX CEMETERY
The two photos on this page show a mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery
before Davey cleared limbs that threatened to fall and damage the structure.
