Richmond.com Points Out Tree Plight
We’ve been doing what we can by posting alerts, so its nice to see Richmond.com run an article about the new trees that have been planted. Last year 400 trees were planted and about 18% didn’t make it. This year 2,000 trees were planted to that much more help is needed.
The Tree Stewards are calling for people to “step up to the tree,” by taking care of a tree in their neighborhood.
Louise Seals, Arbor Day chair at the Tree Stewards, recommends subscribing to the email list to receive alerts and information that they post as the summer grows hotter and drier. The website features prepared tips on how and when to water.
John Chupek asks if I’ve ever heard that saying “It takes a village to raise a child.”
“Well, it is applicable here,” says Chupek, the operations manager of the City of Richmond Urban Forestry Division.
Its just sad and business as usual that this requires volunteers. The City should be taking care of the trees or at least be making an effort to do so. That said, my new tree is happy and well watered, but then again I asked for it.
Someone is taking this seriously. There is a lady living on the south side of Forest Hill Boulevard who drags her personal garden hose (actually, it’s several hoses attached to make one really long one) across the Boulevard to water the newer trees planted on the north side of the street! She doesn’t impede traffic, she seems to be pretty careful about how she does this, and it appears to be working. I guess her hoses are taking quite a beating, being driven over so much – it takes a while for each tree to get enough water – but she has persevered. Too bad nobody on the other side of the street stepped up, but bravo, lady! Thank you from all of us who will someday enjoy the shade there.
A neighbor and I have been watering the three new trees on our block all summer long. It is not that big of a job.
The sad part is that there are many completely
empty TreeGators all along FH and WH Blvd. … all right in front on someone’s home. Obviously the City will not be re-loading the bags. Wish the homeowners near them would do so. I know the Nice Lady does not have enough hose to reach all over the neighborhood. I think we’ll see most of these trees dead by Fall.
Why doesn’t the city plant trees in the fall? Keeping the trees alive thru the hot summer is difficult enough.
I agree. Planting trees in the spring and making them withstand the blistering summer was not a bright thing to do, especially if the city expected volunteer watering. Any nurseryman will tell you that fall is the time to plant trees. And now it looks like we’re going to have water restrictions. I see all the dead trees and think about money and effort wasted.
The ones on our street (and in most of the neighborhood) WERE planted in the fall. We started watering when I noticed we weren’t getting enough rain at frequent enough intervals.
Notify your neighbors, agree on a tree or two to ‘adopt’ and get out there with some water. 10 gallons 2x per week works wonders. Not all of the trees are completely dead, so go for it!
When the crepe myrtles were planted along the WH Merchants Corridor, the Merchants Association and the Neighborhood Association paid for True Timber to water the trees on a regular basis when it was dry. As a result, virtually all the new trees survived the drought. The plantings were an agreement between the city urban forestry department and the neighborhood/merchants groups.