GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) – New things are putting down roots in Glens Falls this week. A contractor with the city is planting trees around the community this week – some replacing old growth, and others bringing leaves and shade to parts of the city that haven’t had them before.

Contractor Grasshopper Gardens is in the process of planting 60 trees along neighborhood roads throughout the city. The Glens Falls Department of Public Works maintains a list of locations where residents have requested new trees planted along the street. A special commission has used that list to chart a map of what spots in the city need some more green.

“We have so many things that go against city trees – pollution, being planted in the wrong space,” said Glens Falls Tree Commissioner Angeline St. Andrews. “We want to plant so that 30, 50, 100 years later, trees don’t have to be moved because they’re on sewer lines or gas lines.”

The Glens Falls Tree Commission is focusing on two parts of the city as far as planting new trees. One is Ward 1, which extends east from Centennial Circle along Warren Street and north to Dix Avenue. The other branches off in the opposite direction, encompassing Glens Falls Hospital and southwest Glens Falls as it follows the Hudson River. Others will be planted where dead or aging trees were removed – sometimes due to a lack of thought into where they were planted.

Different parts of the city will become home to different kinds of trees. Brandywine maples will be planted in spots with power lines overhead, because they stay below 25 feet in height. Larger trees take priority, too. Not everything planted will be a skinny, 1-inch young tree, which can die off in the wrong conditions. Tree species that make homes for invasive species like the emerald ash borer or hemlock wooly adelgid are off the table.

St. Andrews doesn’t know when the last time was that Glens Falls was given a new crop of trees, but she doesn’t want the act to be a one-time deal. With help from a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the city plans to plant new trees every spring and fall, in perpetuity. Once the trees are planted, the city residents who requested them will be asked to do their part in caring for them.

“It helps our downtown. People want to park under trees. We’ve had a long time that we’ve needed to replace trees that have been taken down,” St. Andrews said. “They have such a benefit.”

St. Andrews hopes to kickstart volunteer work to take care of the trees in the spring. Anyone who wants to get involved can reach out to Glens Falls City Hall at (518) 761-3800, or (518) 761-3834.