2012 Spring Record Breaking Community Tree Planting

2012 Spring Record Breaking Community Tree Planting

What do you get when you have 1,200 trees, 500+ volunteers, some soggy, clay-based soil and 4 miles of empty neighborhood boulevards? You get a muddy morning, lots of hard work, tired volunteers and tree-lined streets that will benefit NW Rochester for decades to come. On May 5, over 500 volun-trees showed up to eager and willing to help break our past record (set in spring of 2011) of planting 1,000 boulevard trees in one morning with 450 neighbors.

In order to diversify our urban forest we planted:

  • Ginkgo
  • Swamp White Oak
  • Turkish Filbert
  • Yellowwood
  • Ornamental Pear
  • Kentucky Coffeetree
  • China Snow Lilac
  • Ft. Nair Buckeye
  • Honeylocust
  • Autumn Blaze Pear
  • Accolade Elm
  • Prospector Elm
  • London Planetree
  • His Majesty Corktree
  • Green Pillar Pin Oak
  • Bur Oak

What did it take to accomplish this mission? 4 hours (and for some MORE) of work by 1,000 hands, 3,600 wooden stakes, 580 cubic yards of wood chips and lots of volunteer enthusiasm all went into getting the trees in the soggy ground to grow for generations to come.

Huge thanks to our event sponsors who allowed us to give away free tree-shirts to all of the planters. And an even bigger thanks to all of you amazing Rochester neighbors. These NW Rochester neighborhoods are now greener thanks to you, while setting a MN record of 1,200 city trees planted in one morning! Outstanding. See Our Sponsors

Currently there are 27,720 vacant boulevard tree spaces throughout Rochester neighborhoods, out of a total of 56,779 spaces. The city is currently at less than a half of capacity and each year 500-900 boulevard trees are removed to disease or damage.

RNeighborWoods is doing our small part to add to Rochester’s urban forest, educate about the importance of trees, and nurture connectedness in neighborhoods. Check out photos from Saturday’s Event!

Special thanks to Sarah Field Photography for our wonderful event pictures!

Did you know that trees make a difference in many aspects of a neighborhood? The below information is from the Alliance for Community Trees and additional facts and figures can be found on their website.

Did you know that trees make a difference in many aspects of a neighborhood? The below information is from the Alliance for Community Trees and additional facts and figures can be found on their website.

  • Lower crime.
    The presence of trees in urban neighborhoods has been linked to reduced crime.
  • Cleaner air
    Trees provide the oxygen we breathe. One acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people to breathe each day and eliminates as much carbon dioxide from the air as is produced from driving a car 26,000 miles.
  • Energy savings.
    Trees lower the temperature through shade. The cooling effects of trees can save millions of energy dollars.
  • More public revenue.
    Studies have shown that trees enhance community economic stability by attracting businesses and tourists.
  • Higher property values.
    Property values of homes with trees in the landscape are 5 – 20% higher than equivalent properties without trees.
  • More efficient stormwater management.
    One tree reduces 4000 gallons of storm water runoff annually. 400 trees will capture 140,000 gallons of rainwater annually. That is, 4 million trees would save $14 million in annual storm water runoff costs.

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