Harwich Yards Kept Sharp From Harwich Port to Pleasant Lake

Harwich packs a lot of landscape into one town. Along the south shore, Harwich Port wraps around Wychmere and Saquatucket harbors, and the streets toward Red River Beach are lined with summer homes, cottages and inns facing Nantucket Sound. Salt spray, sandy fill and full sun define those yards.

Head north and the town turns to ponds and cranberry bogs. Long Pond, Seymour Pond and Hinckleys Pond are surrounded by wooded lots, the Herring River winds through marsh in West Harwich, and the old bogs around North Harwich and Pleasant Lake are a reminder of the town’s cranberry history. Those inland yards fight shade, leaves and roots more than salt.

Harwich has its own Fertilizer and Nutrient Control Regulation. Nitrogen fertilizer cannot be applied between November 15 and April 15, and the goal is protecting Pleasant Bay, the harbors and the ponds from nitrogen runoff. We time fall feeding well ahead of the cutoff and wait for the spring opening date before feeding again.

Work close to the water also gets a second look. Under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and the town’s local rules, the Harwich Conservation Commission reviews activity near ponds, marshes, the Herring River and the shoreline. A patio near Long Pond or a clearing job along a coastal bank may need approval first, so we check before scheduling.

On July 23, 2019, the tornado that first hit Yarmouth touched down again in Harwich. More than 90 percent of customers in Harwich and Chatham lost power, most of it from trees and limbs on wires, and cleanup took days. Pines snapped and oaks dropped limbs across the East and South Harwich roads.

That day made a lot of Harwich owners look up. Our tree work here focuses on what is closest to the house and the driveway: thinning dense pines so wind passes through, removing dead tops and weak limbs, and taking down trees that are already leaning toward a roof. It is cheaper to handle on a calm day than after the next storm.