Join Friends of Trees and partners at East Sylvan Middle School

By Andrew Land

We’d love your support on Saturday, August 13, from 9:00 am until noon, at East Sylvan Middle School, where we will follow up on work we started there in October of last year.

Friends of Trees helped at the site by giving support to Portland Parks & Recreation‘s third annual Dig it! event, which resulted in 21 new trees being planted.

The fantastic assortment of species includes the following: two Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), two Whitebarked Himilayan Birches (Betula utilis var. jacquemontii), two Big Leaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum), four Garry Oaks (Quercus garryana), one Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), two Japanese Dogwoods (Cornus kousa), two Dawn Redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), one Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus), one Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), two London Plane (Platanus x acerifolia), and one Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa).

At this point, all but one of the oaks are alive and thriving. To ensure success for the rest, a maintenance event is planned for Saturday, August 13, from 9:00 am until noon.  The address for the site is 1849 SW 58th Ave,  Portland, OR 97221.

Tasks will include pulling weeds, restoring water bowls dug at the time of planting, and mulching both for water retention and to impart nutrition to the new members of the school’s forest. All are welcome to join and are encouraged to bring gloves, shovels, and any other tools that seem like they could help.

For more information, please contact Bryan Burch at either [email protected] or 503-970-9428. The East Sylvan Middle School community thanks you for your support!

–Land is Volunteer & Outreach Specialist for Friends of Trees.