Did we Dig it or What?

Ok, folks - we did it! We replanted our lost trees on Omaha Parkway - it was a big success with 25 neighbors coming out to help us plant five trees. We needed everybody, because digging holes and placing trees in them is harder than you think! Here's some pictorial evidence of a great morning planting trees...



Digging was much harder than we anticipated, and we did run into roots from the former inhabitants of these holes, so we had to dig around to find the perfect spots to place these trees. It was a good thing that Karl Dawson from the City of Portland brought pick axes with him - in fact, he thought of everything, including some good soil with which to backfill the holes. We had plenty of mulch (bark chips from the former elms) but good hard soil was hard to come by, so his pickup load of soil was helpful to anchor the trees.



The next project is to wait for Spring - Karl will again gather us together to go over watering procedures for the summer months. We are also going to work on building benches for the parkway so we can sit and watch the trees grow tall! Besides, Quinn & Piper (the young Van Patten/McVee children) need to play in the trees while they're small and remember that they helped plant them. Those two kids were incredibly hard workers - helping to dig the bark shavings out of the holes and then stamping in the good dirt. They're the only ones among us that will still be here when these oak trees are big and bountiful!

I didn't take as many pictures as I should have - if anybody else wants to send me the pictures they took, I'd be happy to post them here. We had a wonderful turnout of folks and we are so pleased to have trees back in their rightful places.

Update: Monday 11/16/09 - take a look at the photo stream (above) to see all the photos I've collected from folks....keep sending them and I'll keep updating the photo stream - it's great to see all the folks who helped out!

Tree Planting Details

Join your neighbors to help replant the elms lost to Dutch Elm Disease in the Omaha Park Blocks. Portland Parks & Recreation will be working with Neighborhood Tree Stewards to replant five trees. From Rosa Parks south, the trees will be; Oregon White Oak, Oregon White Oak, Accolade Elm, Accolade Elm and a Big Leaf Maple

Please join us to meet your neighbors, have some coffee and donuts, and replant Omaha Blocks

Signing up is appreciated, please call to sign up.
Karl Dawson
Portland Parks & Recreation
City NatureUrban Forestry Outreach Specialist
kdawson@ci.portland.or.us
503-823-1650
http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/trees

Hello Friends of Trees!

Hey check out the new blog by Friends of Trees called "Growth Rings" - the link is down on the right side of this page and also here:

http://friendsoftrees.org/blog/

Friends of Trees are responsible for creating the new canopy the Portland area has experienced in the last 20 years or so....they are doing a fantastic job of getting the word out: TREES MATTER!!!!

Pruning your OWN Trees

Yes, we hired an arborist to prune our own trees on our property.

We have an ornamental plum tree in our front yard that was showing evidence of disease: black knot disease to be exact. The cure is to prune judiciously, spray with a fungicide and feed the tree back to good health. We're using an arborist who is certified in the best practices of the industry and who, well, loves trees.

Our fruit plum tree in the back was just overgrown and needed thinning and pruning.

Now they both look MUCH better. Over the next year they will get some fertilizer and they should both do well.

Planting Trees

David and I attended the "dig it" event at Mt. Tabor Middle School on Saturday and we helped plant trees there with Friends of Trees, Urban Forestry and a bunch of volunteers from different places. We also graduated as Neighborhood Tree Stewards and we even received a certificate!

I tried to get my Mom to travel to Portland for this graduation, but she declined. She started laughing "I've been to ENOUGH of your graduations!"

Tree planting tips: wear your grubbies (you will get muddy), bring gloves, a shovel, some pruning shears and a knife or wire cutters (depending on how the trees are wrapped up). I think that Urban Forestry will bring mulch (we should check with Karl Dawson about that), but it might be a good idea to have some buckets of water or hoses ready as well.

November 14 - are you ready???

Rogue Dawson

Yesterday was our last tree stewardship class and our final speaker was the now infamous Karl Dawson, the man who is going to get our trees replanted on Omaha.



What a nice guy - he's been head of public/private park partnerships for 10 years on behalf of the City of Portland. He organizes volunteers and neighborhood groups to do city tree projects that the neighborhoods want done, and he works to energize neighborhood groups to recognize the importance of trees to their streets, parks and property.

He's having trouble finding trees in the species that we want (and that he suggested) to plant in the Omaha Parkway. He wants trees with a big enough caliper size so that they won't be easily vandalized and will grow quickly. So he's requested a set-over of the planting date until November 14 in order to find the trees he wants.

So: we need at least 7 people to help with planting on November 14. David and I are in - are you?

From Neighbor Mike

As you can see, I'm finally getting around to blogging and spreading more info. This from neighbor Mike at 6355:

GREETINGS I TALKED WITH KARL AT U.F.. HE GAVE ME LOCATIONS OF TWO TYPES OF TREES SUGGESTED A WHITE OAK LOCATED ACROSS THE STREET FROM BEACH GRADE SCHOOL AT 1710 N. HUMBOLDT IT'S 200 YRS OLD. IT JUST DWARFS THE HOUSE THAT'S UNDER IT...IT'S A REAL PRETTY TREE AND HAS BEEN PHOTOGRAPHED ALOT. THERE IS A BIG LEAF MAPLE ON GREELEY AVE 2 BLKS. SOUTH OF LOMBARD. BOTH TREES ARE HUGE... I'M KIND OF LEANING TOWARD DIFFERENT KINDS OF ELMS, JUST TO KEEP THE BLOCK LOOKING FOR UNIFORM, WITH A SIMILAR SIZE TREE....IT SOUNDS LIKE KARL NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT TO LOCATE BY THE 24TH...

Any thoughts?