A Tree Walk Along the Aqueduct

Join Jean on a pictorial adventure along the Old Croton Aqueduct trail to explore the wealth of species along the path. The talk will detail the environmental advantages of our canopy, along with trees’ manifold benefits for human health. Jean will introduce sky-high tulip trees, beech, birch, sugar maple and shagbark — and also elucidate the difference between the “hazard” trees that walkers might be afraid will fall and the gnarly senescent examples that provide invaluable habit for animals. Finally, the talk will address the understory that is crucial to what experts term the “urban forest” along the trail, identifying the multiflora rose, garlic mustard and other invasives FOCA activists have been removing to improve the health of the trees.

Jean has delved into the history and natural history of the Aqueduct from the Bronx north to Croton in her blog at jeanzimmerman.com. Jean is also a Certified Arborist with extensive professional experience advising municipalities on the health of their trees. Contact Laura at laura.compagni@parks.ny.gov with questions. Hope to see you at the Keeper’s House!

Jean is an author whose books have explored the history and culture of the Hudson Valley. Her acclaimed The Women of the House: How a Colonial She Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty (2006, Harcourt) is the primary source about the Philipse family, who settled in Yonkers in the 1600s and went on to found a 57,000-acre estate encompassing present day Westchester County. Her duel biography Love, Fiercely, A Gilded Age Love Story profiles the family of billionaire nineteenth-century merchant-shipper Robert Bowne Minturn, whose lavish estate “Locust Wood” lay just adjacent to the trail in Hastings-on-Hudson when the Aqueduct was newly installed. Jean has delved into the history and natural history of the Aqueduct from the Bronx north to Croton in her blog at jeanzimmerman.com. Jean is also a Certified Arborist with extensive professional experience advising municipalities on the health of their trees, including the Village of Ossining, where she currently serves as Tree Warden. She acts as an inspector to protect trees’ health and welfare on New York City construction sites, among other arboricultural roles. For three years she served as Chair of the Tree Preservation Board in Hastings, her hometown.