By Devin Reese, Master Naturalist Park Steward
Alexandria, VA – A collaborative effort between the City’s Urban Forestry staff, Tree Stewards of Alexandria & Arlington, the Alexandria Beautification Commission, and the Arlington Master Naturalists brought together over 20 people to plant trees at Mt. Jefferson Park in Alexandria on September 28, 2024. By noon, volunteers had planted 22 native saplings, including dogwoods, white oaks, sweetgums, and hackberries.
Russ Bailey, an Alexandria tree steward known for his dedication to planting trees around the city, led the event by demonstrating how to plant a tree. City arborist Phil Jubert explained that when the top of a young tree’s root flare is planted too deeply, that tree will suffer and die.
Beautification Commissioner Emily Swaim commented, “The demonstration was awesome. I learned you must pull the roots out before you plant it.”
Volunteers spread out the length of the park with pickaxes and shovels to prepare selected spots for planting. Many volunteers were in a tree steward training group. Trainee Glenda explained, “We’re preparing the hole by cleaning out all the grass on the surface right now. The grass will compete with the tree, taking nutrients from its roots.”
Trainee David carried stakes and observed, “With all the terrible things going on in the world, if you plant a tree, you’ve done some good.” Trainee Gilberto said he was participating to “Decrease my CO2 footprint in the world.”
Beautification Commissioner Ken Krupa reflected on the experience. “I’m proud,” he said, “I was one of the people helping plant 275 trees for Alexandria’s anniversary. At the Bailey event at the NOVA Alexandria campus, we distributed 275 seedlings. I’m a senior citizen now, and I’m hoping that these trees will be part of my legacy.”
A younger participant arrived with her mom, who said they were on a walk and noticed something special was going on. Her daughter was drawn to the truck that delivered the trees. “In the big truck is a tree for our neighborhood,” she said. She plans to name the new tree “That Big Tree.”
City Arborist Jubert reflected on tree planting events: “Our goals are for it to be fun and bring the community together, but also to help the city’s goal to plant more trees in urban environments. We don’t live in a woodland where natural regeneration happens. Biodiversity is important to slow down insect diseases.” Jubert explained that volunteers make a tremendous difference by saving the city funds that can be reinvested in more trees and their maintenance.
Amidst the buzz of excitement, tree steward Russ Bailey expressed how encouraging it is that the Alexandria Beautification Commission joined the Tree Stewards in these city-wide plantings. Bailey was inspired to make Mt. Jefferson Park one of the tree planting sites after working with Arlington Master Naturalist Park Stewards Devin Reese and Hal Cardwell and witnessing their progress in replacing non-native plants and vines with natives,
“I feel terrific about today. People arrived on time, worked well past the hour to get 22 trees into the ground, all native trees in the right place, at the right time, and planted in the right way,” said Bailey.
ICYMI: Would you like to win a beautification award next year?
One Comment