At 9am our energetic volunteers started arriving, the rain kept raining, and we worked in groups from both ends of the street to insert trees. Each tree had a team of 4-6 people working on it, each with a ladder, a bucket of tools and a team leader showing them how to do the job.
About a dozen trees went off to other neighborhood spots as well, to be planted in front of various houses.I had to work it out on paper but we now have 5 species interspersed evenly down the street by leaf color, growth habit (upright or weeping) and leaf size. Tricky! For some reason an extra Acacia baileyana "Purpurea" was delivered but hey presto: we had a spare hole for it!
Each tree had the following work done to get it settled:
- Dig out the hole to the right depth.
- Remove from pot, trim roots and insert in hole.
- Back fill hole.
- Pound in 3 stakes while standing on a ladder.
- Nail on 3 joists to hold the stakes together.
- Remove the original tree stake it came with.
- Tie and then nail on three supports.
- Add a wire mesh cage to protect the tree.
- Water in well. Hahaha. No, not really. These trees weren't so much planted as drowned in the sodden dirt!
By 2pm all 23 trees were in. Matt went to pick up pizzas donated in part by Goat Hill Pizza and drinks, and we stopped work, and chatted and exchanged scary tree stories, then finally called it a day. Phew!
Join us at 10am next week, Saturday December 8th, for part 2 - the sidewalk. We really need extra volunteers for that day, and the 15th too - can you make it?
Well done! Looks like you might as well have been in Wales! Sounds like those trees have been Well Planted.
ReplyDelete