City of Gahanna
Gahanna’s roots run deep when it comes to its greenery. As an official Tree City for more than 35 years, the community has long valued its canopy, and in recent years, the City’s forestry team has expanded its reach in big ways – further enhancing green spaces and raising the standards.
Under the leadership of Forestry Superintendent Julie Predieri, the team’s growth has both beautified Gahanna, and also ensured that residents see the flourishing, tangible results of the City’s investments in the community.
Improving the City’s Street Tree Program has been one of Predieri’s priorities since becoming her hometown’s City Forester.
City of Gahanna
Gahanna Forestry Superintendent Julie Predieri
“That’s been the project I’ve been most focused on trying to improve,” she said. “I would say that the biggest driving factor in our growth has been that program.”
To get the program up and running, Predieri and her team collected information from other municipalities to assess staffing, financial, equipment, and material needs. In 2021, City Council approved fund requests that allowed the Department to begin preparing for the Program. By 2023, the Street Tree Program was underway – starting with the removal and replacement of any still-standing ash trees.
Since then, the forestry team has grown both in size and expertise. With more staff on board, the team is now able to focus on two key areas: the tree team, which cares for everything from street trees to larger, mature trees; and the horticulture team, which handles landscaping, park tree maintenance, and plant care across the City. The team also welcomed a new forestry foreman to help oversee operations, along with additional certified arborists, further strengthening their ability to care for Gahanna’s green spaces.
“Every additional person we’ve been able to add, we’ve been able to offer more services,” Predieri said. “We’ve done some pruning for the first time this year, more removal of trees that needed to come down, and our planting program has just exploded.”
When Predieri started working in Gahanna in 2018, the forestry team was planting 100 trees per year – 50 in the spring and 50 in the fall. Today, the expanded team is planting more than 300 trees per year with nearly 200 street trees planted just this fall.
Beyond its expanded services, the forestry team also has been able to increase volunteer and educational opportunities. According to Predieri, the team oversees the community’s garden programs, hosts field trips with local students, and was able to certify Creekside Park as a Level 1 Arboretum – an education opportunity in itself.
“With the services we’re able to offer, we’ve definitely increased the standards, pretty much across the board,” Predieri said. “So, I think our residents are seeing a higher quality of care.”
For Predieri, a lifelong Gahanna resident herself, community impact and involvement are just as important to the team as any of its other efforts. While urban forestry is crucial for the environment, sustainability, and public health and well-being, it also benefits residents by providing them with a sense of pride in their community.
“It’s exciting to be a part of Tree City USA, and I think residents are proud to be a part of that,” she said. “We’re exceeding those expectations every single year.”
Predieri hopes to keep the community involved as the Forestry Division continues to grow, specifically as the Team prepares to soon dive into an urban forestry master plan. She said the City would like to bring in community members for input and find more advocates who are excited to see Gahanna’s canopy grow and invest in Gahanna’s green infrastructure.
In the meantime, Predieri hopes to continue adding to her staff, acquire newer equipment, kick off more street tree-related programming, and, most importantly, continue to make a real impact on the community.
“It’s really special to be able to work for a community that means so much to me,” Predieri said. “And I want to emphasize that I couldn’t do this without the team. There are some highly skilled, amazing people on our staff. It’s an exciting time to be in urban forestry.”
Ella Jay is an assistant editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at ejay@cityscenemediagroup.com.
