Planting Fields Arboretum Trees 'Threatened,' Advocacy Group Says

OYSTER BAY, NY — The trees at Oyster Bay's Planting Fields Arboretum are threatened, an education and advocacy group warned. The Cultural Landscape Foundation (CLF) is a nonprofit that publishes an annual list of threatened and at-risk landscapes and works of landscape architecture across the country.

CLF's 2022 list names Long Island's state park and historic 400-acre former mansion and historic site to the list, because its trees are being attacked by "two life-threatening diseases," the report details.

Planting Field was designed by the Olmsted Brothers—Frederick Law Olmsted is known for his public parks and landscape design, including New York City's Central Park, and is historically significant as an intact example of a Gold Coast estate and grounds on Long Island.

According to the CLF, the tree diseases, Phytophthora bleeding canker and Beech Leaf Disease, "pose an imminent threat to both species of beech at Planting Fields."

Beech Leaf Disease in particular is a newly-discovered tree disease that's challenging to treat.

"At Planting Fields, this disease is progressing at a startling rate. Daily monitoring and image capturing reveals that more than half of the total number of beech trees, both natural and cultivated, have been affected. In the spring of 2022, a majority of beech trees failed to leaf out, and those that did had lost up to 80% of their leaf canopy."

The beech trees at Planting Fields are one of the most iconic elements of the grounds, CLF noted.

Gina J. Wouters, President and CEO of the Planting Fields Foundation told Patch that Beech Leaf Disease is an important issue for all of Long Island.

"After first being discovered in 2021 at Planting Fields, Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) has affected the majestic beech trees of our historic site at a shocking intensity. Environmental threats such as BLD are often threatening our iconic landscape. Resources to support ongoing monitoring, trial treatments, and eventual replacement are critical to sustain and preserve this landscape enjoyed by so many. The inclusion of Planting Fields in TCLF’s Landslide report is essential to building awareness of how our site is threatened by this new pathogen."