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Sledding war erupts in Wellesley

By adamg on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 5:49pm

The Swellesley Report is filing dispatches from the front lines of a war that's erupted in normally bucolic Wellesley between people who just want to do some sledding and a gardening group that is trying to keep them off a prime hill to protect the tulips and other plantings at the bottom of the hill.

Yesterday, the Swellesley Report learned first hand that the Massachusetts Horticultural Society had not only fenced off a popular hill on the Elm Bank land it leases from the state (with fences that could be electrified, no less), its officials and local police were on hand at the closest parking lot to shoo away all the families that kept trying to show up with sleds and tubes and toboggans. The reason: To protect all the tulips and other plantings in gardens at the bottom of the hill.

Today, the news site reports, sledding rebels tore down the fencing down and people were serenely sliding down the hill. The local state rep was aghast the society was blocking sledding, but allowed as how tearing down fences was perhaps not the best way to address the situation.

Like Harvard University with the Arnold Arboretum, the society has a long-term lease on the land - albeit just 99 years, not the 1,000 years a canny Harvard negotiated with the city of Boston back in the 1870s.

Unlike the society, however, Harvard has never planted tulips at the bottom of the Ahb's prime sledding run, down Peters Hill to South Street in Roslindale.

Free tagging: 
Wellesley
sledding
Snow


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Comments

By mg on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 6:04pm.

A big update from David Linsky, our rep in the Massachusetts House,
“Further update: DCR has informed Mass Hort that under the terms of their lease they need a permit from DCR to reconstruct the fence. This will finally bring Mass Hort to the table and hopefully they will be a better neighbor and we can reach a solution. Obviously I don’t support any “self-help” that may have happened, but I can report that kids are sledding there as we speak. I have been working with the DCR Commissioner on this and he is supportive of our efforts.”

By THE_WIZ on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 6:28pm.

Needs an enema.”

-The Joker (Nicholson) Bat Man (89’)

By Tim Mc. on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 6:13pm.

Soil compaction? (Does that even happen from foot traffic when the ground is frozen?)

By Al Dubin on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 6:43pm.

Tiptoe through the tulips!

By Kinopio on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 7:25pm.

I bet these boomer bloomers are the same people who say, “why don’t kids play outside anymore?!”.

up
10

By Waquiot on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 8:25pm.

There are some people who go on about how good it is for people to be outside enjoying themselves, but keep on going on about how parades and ethnic celebrations should be banned in Boston.

Wait until you find out how most of the families get to the park.

By Whirlz on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 7:59pm.

and I am very disappointed.

By anon on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 8:01pm.

Went sledding as a teenager in the land of horses and goats . Wasn't prepared for bottom line of barbed wire at the bottom of the hill. Blood all over my face. Good times!

By anon on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 9:19pm.

Why are there tulips on/under the ground... in December?

By adamg on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 11:30pm.

Not familiar with how tulips work?

The idea is you plant the bulbs in the fall so that they bloom in the spring.

By Ari O on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 10:46pm.

1) someone updated the Elm Bank wikipedia page with the following, which will probably be taken down, but still is appreciated:

In 2024, the society closed Elm Bank to sledding, not using signage or announcement, but enlisting electric fencing and the Dover no-fun police to enforce the ending of a community tradition dating back decades.

2) I don't have a PhD in plants but … don't tulips and such live in bulbs underground and lay dormant during winter? Wouldn't a layer of snow insulate them further from trampling above? Maybe some amount of ground compaction would occur, but maybe someone at Elm Bank could focus their tulips on something not at the bottom of a sledding hill.

3) Given that private golf courses in Newton generally don't mind kids sledding down their hills, you'd think MassHort could figure out how to allow this to go on.

4) Good that Rep Linsky is on top of this. Since the site is owned by the Commonwealth, the non-horticulturists should get some say in what goes on there.

By BostonDog on Sun, 12/22/2024 - 11:00pm.

I don't know why they want to keep people off the frozen ground either but the electric fence is likely to keep deer out. There's a small arboretum in one of the North shore towns and they have a bunch of signs explaining their fences and the damage the deer caused. Although they also have gates so people can walk through.