Planting Trees, Growing Community.

This new program will train volunteers in young tree monitoring and early problem detection techniquesto to help ensure successful establishment. Participants will adopt five or more City of Davis street or greenbelt shade trees planted in the last several years. There are some cases such as parks and greenbelts where a volunteer can monitor 35 trees for the same amount of time as it would take to monitor 5 trees. While participants are asked to commit to monitoring the trees from May through August, any volunteer time that can be dedicated to this effort would be appreciated. Volunteers will monitor trees and report potential problems. Participants will work with a section leader to determine if there is a problem with a tree, a need for action and the best approach to address the problem.

Participants will also be able to attend three informative talks that will help train and prepare you to identify signs of stress and causes of stress in young trees:

2011 - May 2nd @ 7:30pm:

    The importance and role of trees in the environment
    Characteristics of trees
    Basics of tree care
    Characteristics of various tree species
    Introduce section leaders and hand out door hangers to volunteers that have adopted residential street trees

2011 - June 13th @ 7:30pm:

    Staking – types of staking systems and their components, examples of  good and bad staking, staking practicum.
    Good tree branch structure
    Identifying the main causes/sources of bark damage
    Other common types of tree damage
    Proper mulching
    Checking for the presence of tree guards

2011- July 11th @ 7:30pm:

    Tracking differences in 1, 2, and 3-yr trees
    Factors for successful tree establishment
    Recognizing stress in young trees
    In depth exploration of watering
    Weeding – working with the homeowner

2011 - August 8th @ 7:30pm – Celebration, feedback, sharing experiences and photos.

The talks will take place in the Veteran's Memorial Center's Game Room: 203 East 14th Street, Davis, CA 95616.

Currently, there are young trees that need to be monitored in Downtown, Central Davis, East Davis, Mace Ranch, El Macero, Willowbank, and Wildhorse. Our highest priority is to monitor those trees most recently planted. A complete list of trees is available in PDF form at the bottom of this page.

If you like to participate, please send an email to <info AT treedavis DOT org> and include which trees you would like to monitor.