Morrisville Borough
London planetree and pin oak each made up 15 percent of Morrisville’s 2007 street tree count. Near a court, that means fall leaves, seed balls breaking up over winter, and last year’s leaves off young pin oaks in spring.
Local courts
Morrisville Borough sits on the Delaware just below the falls, across the river from Trenton, with Lower Makefield Township to the north and Falls Township to the south. Its 19067 ZIP code reaches past the borough line, so a Morrisville address can belong to a house in Falls Township, and we work on both sides of that line. On either side, we take on tennis and pickleball courts: crack repair and leveling, acrylic resurfacing and color, line striping, pickleball conversions and new pickleball layouts, at home or for a club, school or association. Bill Ferguson is the one you call.
Those trees reach the court from below, too: one coating maker’s manual lists tree roots among the causes of cracks and low spots. So check the canopy as well as the pavement: what falls on the court and when, which corners stay damp, and whether a heaved crack lines up with a root. From there, resurfacing runs in its usual order: wash, patch, fill cracks, acrylic resurfacer, textured color coats as the coating maker directs, and freshly measured lines.
Local conditions
Planetree leaves are stiff, up to about 8 inches long and 10 across, and whole ones can sometimes take more than a year to break down. The seed balls break apart slowly over winter, and the vigorous roots can leave city paving uneven. Keep the court swept through fall and winter, and look for roots under any raised or cracked pavement nearby.
Young pin oaks under about 20 feet tall often keep their dead leaves all winter, holding them until the new leaves appear in spring. A court beside one collects leaves long after the fall cleanup. Leaves left lying can stain the color and breed mildew, a coating maker’s manual warns, so the spring sweep matters as much as the fall one.
Norway maple made up 14 percent of the trees counted, and its canopy is dense enough to hold back growth beneath it. Under shade like that, check the corners where leaves collect. One coating maker says acrylic itself doesn’t feed mold, but decaying matter sitting on it does. Mildew should be treated and rinsed off before any repair or color goes on.
Start here
When a court under Morrisville’s planetrees and oaks is sound underneath, resurfacing rebuilds the top: a wash and mildew treatment, patching and crack filling, acrylic resurfacer, the textured color coats the coating maker calls for and lines measured fresh, all in the warm months.
London planetree roots can leave paving uneven, and January nights here average about 24°F, cold enough to freeze water in an open crack. Cracks are usually cleaned and filled with acrylic filler, but pavement a root has lifted needs attention first.
Lower Makefield, Morrisville’s neighbor to the north, lists pickleball courts at Memorial Park and Heacock Meadows. A tennis court at home can host the game too: blended lines for two pickleball courts with tennis kept, or a full conversion for up to four.
Plan on May through September, and pick dry days. One coating maker wants air and surface at 50°F and rising, held from a day before the work to a day after, and only from May through September does Morrisville’s average nightly low stay above 50°F. Shade cools a court and slows curing, and humidity here averages highest from August through October, so a shaded court’s late coats need the driest stretch you can get. To put your court on the calendar, call Bill at 215-251-2984.
Before. Morrisville’s 2007 inventory rated almost 45 percent of the trees surveyed as dead or in poor to fair condition, and pin oaks can keep dead branches for years. If limbs over your court need pruning, or a tree has to come down, get that done first. Falling wood, chips and equipment matter less on color that’s about to be covered, and one coating maker says to protect a court’s surface before driving maintenance vehicles onto it.
Start with the borough’s own guidance. Morrisville’s Environmental Advisory Council asks you to picture a tree at 20 years and to check whether it drops fruit, nuts or pods. It favors native species, lists Norway maple and Bradford pear among trees to avoid, and sets a tree at least half its mature spread from a house. Give your court the same room. Planting or removing a tree in the strip between sidewalk and street takes the borough’s permission.