Rotary Tree Planting Project

 

Place—Canyon View Park, East of the big playground and main picnic pavilion, South of the southernmost pond.    GJ Parks has reserved the pavilion for us, for refreshments and emergency medical (blisters, heatstroke, etc.) care.

 

Date—Saturday June 22, at 7:00 a.m. and following until we finish, most likely by noon.

 

Bring—gloves and a shovel.

 

Attire—grubbies.  Rotary shirts or hats are encouraged.   TV coverage is expected, so makeup is o.k., along with coiffed hair and muscle shirts.

 

The work plan—GJ staff will have prepped the planting areas, with a backhoe and tiller and soil amendments.   The trees will be staged by the already-dug holes according to the arborist’s design for the arboretum.  Out job will be to remove the trees from the big (15 gallon) pots they were shipped in, move them into the holes and then “shave” the circling roots that have developed over the months that the trees have been in the pots.  Obviously, sharp shovels will be required for this.  The city foresters will hold a short how-to session at the pavilion at 7:00 am for us and our volunteers.

 

We will then fill the holes with the amended soil that has been placed at each planting site, and move to the next trees.   City staff will handle the time-consuming work of staking the trees and surrounding them will protective fencing.    Some other trees at Canyon View Park have been damaged or killed by beavers that come up the adjoining drainage ditch all the way from the Colorado River, and the City is determined not to let that happen to these young trees.