Tree-Planting Season has Begun

FROM THE MINNEAPOLIS PARKS AND REC FORESTRY DIVISION

See video below:  How do you water a tree and what does it cost per season to do that?

Last Friday, hundreds of folks celebrated Arbor Day with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), helping to plant 150 trees in Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. This week, the tree-planting season kicks into high gear, after delays caused by April’s record-setting snowstorms. Our intrepid arborists will have to dig deep to get some 8,000 trees into the ground before summer heat sets in. But they’re up for the challenge!

Why 8,000 trees? That number keeps MPRB on track with its Ash Canopy Replacement Plan, which began implementation in 2014 and will be complete in 2021. The plan addresses current and future devastation from the emerald ash borer infestation, systematically replacing all public ash trees in Minneapolis. By developing a diverse and resilient urban forest, future generations will not have to go through a similar loss of the city’s tree canopy.

Thousands of those trees are currently at a distribution site, where crews consult “shopping lists” to load trucks with various quantities and species, based on where they are to be planted. As trees get trucked off to new homes around the city, they’re replaced with fresh arrivals grown here in Minnesota as well as in Illinois, Wisconsin and as far away as Buffalo, New York.

Which tree species are getting planted this year? Watch for an update on that topic in a couple weeks. In the meantime, remember that a newly planted tree is a thirsty tree! Please water all trees, especially young ones.

How do you water a tree and what does it cost per season to do that?

Watch the video to find out:

Find out more about MPRB’s park care and maintenance and its stewardship of the urban forest and park trees.