Tag: pruning
Noticing Nature
Communications intern Tony reflects on learning to prune with Friends of Trees
What I like about pruning is that when you spend time with trees, you develop a deepening of sensory experience that stays with you as you learn to recognize names and patterns in nature. It has a slowing down effect. And when looking at trees individually, you realize that each tree is full of intricate detail that reveals a mini ecosystem world.
Thanks to the Adult Urban Forestry Program, Friends of Trees has given me access to this relationship with living things that I wouldn’t otherwise have. I’m excited to one day share this with my little kids. It’s clear they love—and need—to get dirty and play with living things too. My family lives in a sixth floor apartment. We’ve tried growing things on our balcony, with limited success. We have containers of soil to scoop and dig in, and have discovered a few shade-tolerant flowers that can live up here. My brother gave me a maple tree that lives in a bucket and is leafing out in the April weather.
From six floors up, the human-made city has patterns that, like nature, can have a certain calming effect if you let your mind dilate—just try not to think about goods and services moving in a loop forever! Nature has fractal complexity in abundance, and it is slower. Ants, when observed, move goods and services in a loop forever, too. But those ants are crawling over each other and don’t seem to be taking it personally. The natural world has so much to offer when we take our time with it. You notice the rustle of leaves, the interplay of light and shadow, you touch moss and smell things.
Looking at nature can produce “Soft Fascination,” a term coined by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, who pioneered the study of how natural environments affect psychology. Soft Fascination describes a kind of observational complexity that invites exploratory, effortless attention and open relaxed awareness. Your mind can wander through details at its own pace, noticing more and more subtlety the longer you look.
For me, pruning with Friends of Trees combines mental relaxation with problem-solving. You get this nice interplay between mental modes. When you prune, the first part is always about taking a step back, relaxing the mind, engaging the senses, and just taking the whole of the tree in. And our pruning and planting events are never about getting as much done as possible. They’re about meaningful connections with trees and with each other.
My kids are still a bit too young to join me at pruning events. For now, they explore nature through our balcony, parks, and a community garden. My four-year-old daughter is intrigued by the idea of pruning, and has requested “pruners that are the right size for kiddos.” Lately, when I pin my nametag on, she asks if I’m going to see “Friends in Trees,” (her term is far too cute for me to correct her yet!). I tell her, “one day soon, I’ll bring you with me.”
Community Pruning in Eugene
Community Pruning—An Art and a Science
The Eugene Branch just wrapped up its pruning season before kicking off the planting season. They keep these pruning events small and intimate so that each volunteer gets more hands-on experience. Pruning can feel like an art as much as a science, and it’s something that takes a lot of practice before you feel comfortable with it.
Check out our event calendar to sign up for our first planting event of the season at Northwest Expressway, or to train to be a Crew Leader!
“We started having smaller pruning events because of Covid,” says Taylor Glass, Eugene-Springfield Program Manager for Friends of Trees in Eugene. “We decided to keep them small because the pruners really appreciate it.”
Each pruning event has just up to 15 volunteers, and they split into four or five groups, with one Friends of Trees staff member on each team. They prune to provide clearance over the sidewalk and the road, and they prune for good structure. In many but not all species, this includes encouraging a strong central leader.
One reason that Eugene prunes in late summer, rather than in the dormant season, is that it slows the trees down. “Here, fast growth is a bigger issue than slow growth,” says Eugene Director Erik Burke. Fast growing trees are tougher to manage for strength and stability, and will often have weaker wood more prone to failure, particularly in snow or ice storms, which is something you don’t want in the urban environment.
“Young tree pruning is the most cost effective thing you can do for an urban forest,” Erik says. Pruning helps create a lasting form that won’t suffer as much damage from storms and trucks.
When you walk up to a tree that needs to be pruned, it can be tough to know where to start. Every tree is different. You have a number of goals you want to achieve, but you can only prune so much. Each pruner might make different little decisions toward the same overall goal of forming the tree.
“It’s so personal, the approach each person takes,” Erik says. “We all do it totally differently and no one way is right.”
The small pruning teams allow for a collaborative decision-making process, which grows a volunteer’s experience and confidence. And with experience and confidence, a small team can accomplish just as much as a big group.
“Volunteers can be anxious, because they want to do it right,” says Erik. “But the trees are resilient, and they’ll be fine in the long run.”
Ideally a tree gets pruned every three years for the first fifteen years of its life. We’re not always able to provide every tree with the ideal number of prunings, but thanks to volunteer efforts, we can often give trees pruning attention that they need.
Pruning a tree can be really satisfying, when you step back and see its form take shape. And it can be especially rewarding when you see the tree grow into that form over the years. Giving volunteers hands-on involvement in the process creates a special bond to these community trees, and volunteers always want to come back to do it again.
“Teaching is a great way to learn,” Taylor says. “And with each season, you learn more.”
Exploring New Neighborhoods and New Skills
Our youth pruning program provides hands-on experience to POIC and Blueprint participants
On a Wednesday morning at Alberta Park in Northeast Portland, young folks from the Blueprint Foundation and POIC (Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center) gather for a pruning event. They’ve been doing this for a few weeks, so there’s a lovely familiarity. While they wait to start, they’re chatting with their friends, exploring the park, and enjoying the cool morning air ahead of what will be a hot day.
Eventually, we circle up, and Friends of Trees staff review the pruning process in the form of trivia, complete with gummy bear rewards. The POIC and Blueprint students really know their stuff, Quentin in particular, who earns plenty of gummy bears that he redistributes among his team. Like Quentin, many of the POIC folks have been working with Friends of Trees for a while, leading crews at planting events during the planting season.
The week before, graduates from our Adult Urban Forestry Workforce Training Program (AUF) walked through the neighborhood around Alberta Park, identifying street trees in need of pruning, and labeling those trees with a tag. This week, POIC and Blueprint students will join the AUF grads to revisit those trees, and with the guidance of a Pruning Leader or Friends of Trees staff, they’ll get out their pruners and prune those trees! This week, two AUF grads co-led a crew, a role they prepared for by attending pruning events last season.
“It’s really rewarding seeing the AUF grads step into the Pruning Leader role,” says Mario Catani, Neighborhood Trees Specialist.
This summer has a total of four youth pruning events in North, Northeast, and East Portland neighborhoods, with funding from Metro’s Nature in Neighborhoods program. Our youth pruning program started in 2021 and has continued to evolve, with graduates from our Adult Urban Forestry Workforce Training program serving as mentors and Pruning Leaders. All the participants are paid for their time.
“It’s getting more and more intentional and meaningful each year,” says Community Tree Care Coordinator Litzy Venturi.
“This is an awesome way for us to work with Blueprint and POIC youth in the summertime,” says Workforce Development Manager Rudy Roquemore. “It’s a really cool opportunity to get to know each other in a more intimate setting.”
In this intimate setting, pruning is a collaborative effort. We split into groups and head out into the neighborhood with our list of addresses. When we locate a tagged tree, we take time to look at it and talk through the potential issues. Things like suckers, dead branches, crossing or rubbing branches, and co-dominant leaders. And together, students figure out how to address these issues in order of priority, while staying within the budget of pruning no more than 25% of the canopy.
“It’s awesome to revisit some of these neighborhoods to prune trees and to introduce the youth participants to different parts of the city,” Litzy says.
Lashay Gates, a Program Assistant at Blueprint, was a program participant herself before becoming a mentor and now serving in her current position. So she knows firsthand the value of this program for the students, beyond the joy of helping a tree.
“I love working with youth and getting outside,” Lashay says. “You’re outside with more people who look like you.”
For the students, the pleasures of pruning can be simple. Being outside, learning new skills, or just the satisfaction of making a good cut that shapes the tree for future success.
“I like the cutting part,” says Aiden from POIC. “It’s very stress relieving.”
One tree down, onto the next, and after a couple quick hours and half a dozen trees, a well-earned lunch in the park.
Tree Care Summer
This is what Friends of Trees gets up to between planting seasons
Our planting season is from October to April, but folks at Friends of Trees keep plenty busy in the summer. We’re planning for the season ahead of course, but we’re also checking in on the trees and native plants in the ground.
You might see our Green Space team out in natural areas making sure the native plants are properly mulched and not getting overcrowded with weeds. You might see some of our neighborhood field technicians out in the community watering trees. Or you might see some of our staff at community events connecting with folks who want to plant trees at their homes!
For volunteers, now is the time of year that our summer tree inspectors are visiting young trees to see how they’re faring. Summer Inspectors learn how to assess the health of newly-planted street and yard trees and give homeowners watering and mulching tips. Being a Summer Inspector gives you a chance to meet your neighbors and to help them take care of their trees during the critical first summer after planting.
One of the most important things inspectors check for is if a tree is getting enough water. Young trees require regular, deep watering (15 gallons, once per week). Young trees have a limited root system and can’t reach deeper into the soil to find water.
“Water is one of the three components of photosynthesis, along with sunlight and carbon dioxide, and it’s the only one we can control,” says Community Tree Care Coordinator Litzy Venturi. “Trees can’t make food without it. At minimum, a young tree won’t grow. More likely, especially in their first couple years, they’ll die without summer watering.”
Because watering is so important and we want to make sure trees survive and thrive, the BRANCH Coalition plantings have an opt-in watering service. We also work to send watering reminders to all tree recipients and helpful feedback after their trees get inspected. Think of this Treemail as yet another watering reminder! Have you been watering your tree? Check out our tree care guide for tips like the bucket method!
For trees beyond their first few years of age, summer is one of the times when it makes sense to prune. Young tree pruning is the most cost effective thing you can do for an urban forest and it’s one of the ways we make sure our trees are cared for after they’re planted. We’ve just kicked off our summer youth pruning program. At four pruning events in Portland, youth participants will get to learn the fundamentals of pruning, get hands-on practice, and get to see different parts of the city.
Fall Tree Care Tips
Steps to take to get your tree ready for the winter ahead
Enjoy what’s left of the fall color
Fall brings cooler days, longer nights, the return of rain, an extra layer or two when we head out, and the striking colors on display gifted to us by nature.
You’re not the only one who has felt the days getting shorter. Our trees noticed, too, and they’ve taken it as a sign that the growing season is over. How do they notice? A hormone response is triggered by the shorter daylight hours, the angle of the sun, and the cooler temps.
In a process called abscission, trees reabsorb the nutrients stored in the leaves before detaching and shedding them. Chlorophyll, which gives leaves their green color, is one of the first things to be absorbed, which is why we see them change color.
Leave the Leaves
Fallen leaves still have plenty of nutrients, which is why we encourage you to leave the leaves. Trees are putting those leaves there on purpose! We have a habit as a society to rake and dispose of leaves, but leaves are vitamins for plants and magic for building the health and vitality of soil, especially where urban soils are devoid of nutrients. Think of your leaves as free fertilizer!
You can use your leaves like mulch and rake them under your trees to nourish the roots (but keep them away from the trunk). Just like you would with mulch, follow the 3-3-3 rule: 3 inches away from the trunk, 3 inches deep, and at least a 3 foot radius. Covering the whole root zone is ideal, and the larger the tree, the wider the root zone.
Mulch for winter
Roots can grow year round in the right conditions—moisture, air, and temperature. We plant when the trees are dormant above ground so that they can focus on establishing their roots. To help keep those conditions right for your young tree, make sure you replenish your mulch for winter.
Just like mulch keeps roots cool in summer, it keeps them warm in winter. And it will protect from the drying effects of winter winds. One inch of mulch is a windbreaker, three inches is like a down jacket. Just follow the 3-3-3 rule!
Prune potential hazards
It’s a good time of year to take care of maintenance of your medium and large trees. Last winter, we saw some serious winter storms. The best thing we can be doing this time of year to make our trees more storm resilient is pruning. The combination of wind and ice can lead to branch failure—in short, nature prunes itself. That’s exactly why it’s best to prune problem areas now rather than waiting until snow and ice is predicted. Ice can increase the weight load on a branch by up to 30 times.
Now is a great time to have an arborist out to inspect your trees!