OCTOBER 2023: TREE CARE | VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES | E-BIKE PLANTING
GIVE YOUR TREE SOME TREE-LC
Caring for trees of all ages creates the diverse urban forest we need!
Sometimes trees need a little tree love + care. When we take care of our trees, we help them take care of us. This is the beautiful relationship between trees and community that is at the core of Friends of Trees. You can help foster and expand your community of tree stewards.
Because we are a tree-planting organization, we usually focus on young tree care. As our Community Tree Care Coordinator Andrew Land puts it, “we’re really in the business of pediatric arboriculture stewardship training.” That mouthful of words aside, we focus on young trees getting the care they need so that they can survive to be mature trees.
“We often talk about how important it is to have a diversity of tree species. It’s also really important that we have a diversity of tree ages.”
-Andrew Land, Community Tree Care Coordinator
While it’s important that we plant and develop our urban forest, it’s also important that we nurture and maintain. It’s not one or the other. It has to be both. “When we talk about the public health benefits of trees, we’re really talking about mature trees,” Andrew says. “The benefits of a tree—like its ability to clean air and water—expands exponentially each year.”
We encourage you to make a tree care plan for all your trees, no matter how old. The right attention over the years can maximize the life of your tree and the benefit it provides.
For the first few establishment years, proper watering and mulching are crucially important. After that, trees are relatively low maintenance, but you should still make sure to do regular inspection and maintenance pruning every few years. Maintaining a healthy mature tree provides so many benefits to you and your whole neighborhood.
“One of the best things you can do is simply notice,” Andrew says. “Notice how the trees at your own home are doing. Notice how your neighbors trees are doing. Talk to your neighbors about their trees.”
It’s our 35th season of planting and caring for trees – JOIN US!
We have so many awesome planting events for you this season! Whether it’s in a neighborhood or natural area, we would love your help building community with trees. It’s a great way to take climate action, and as a volunteer named Caela puts it, planting trees is the “best reason in the world to wear rubber pants and play in the mud!”
Here are some upcoming volunteer events:
October 28, Natural area planting, Jackson Bottom Wetland, Hillsboro
October 28, Neighborhood planting, Milwaukie
November 4, Natural area planting, Arrowhead Creek Park, Wilsonville
November 11, Natural area planting, King’s Bend, Cornelius
Crew Leaders and Assistants—watch your inbox for Crew Leader News on the first of the month! Trained Crew Leaders sign-up for events here.
THE EUGENE BRANCH
A new E-Bike grant gives our Eugene team even more Pedal Power!
Our Eugene-Springfield team just received an Electric Mobility Grant from the Eugene Water & Electric Board. The team will receive two new electric bicycles to use for pedal powered planting. Our Eugene plantings already feature robust bicycle use and these new e-bikes will expand our plant-by-bike program even more.
“It’ll be great to be able to use these new e-bikes to haul trees at planting events,” says Eugene-Springfield Program Manager Taylor Glass. The team has borrowed e-bikes from partners in the past so they know exactly how useful they can be.
Beyond planting events, Friends of Trees staff will be able to use the e-bikes for things like site inspections, outreach events, and pruning. Reducing how often we drive as part of the sustainability goals for Friends of Trees.
“You really get to know the city better when you’re biking through it rather than driving.”
Want to get in on the action this season? Check out our planting event calendar. Do you want to step up and lead a planting crew? Crew Leader training is November 29th!
GIVE!GUIDE 2023
Willamette Week’s Give!Guide begins on November 1st! Stay tuned to our social media channels for Big Give Days, special events, and more.
With your gift, however large or small, Friends of Trees is on its way toward hitting a $65k goal for the Give!Guide by year’s end. Your support will not only plant and care for trees—our climate superheroes—it will also help bring our communities together around the natural places we love.
We’d love it if you also supported our partners: APANO, Depave, The Blueprint Foundation, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, Wisdom of the Elders, and POIC. And thanks to our business sponsors Sizzle Pie and Level Beer!
ANOTHER SEASON OF 3’S FOR TREES
When the Blazers take the court for their season opener this week, Daimler Truck North America, the Portland Trail Blazers, and Friends of Trees will be kicking off our TENTH SEASON of the 3’s For Trees Program. For every three-pointer made, three trees get planted!
So when you SCOOT on down to the Moda Center to cheer on the Blazers, you’ll be cheering for trees + community too!
