How to Plant Trees
“its more complicated than you think”
My name is Mike Bucy and I’m on the La Conner Park Commission which is an advisory committee of town citizens nominated by members of the community to advise the La Conner Town Council on all things related to Parks. We work out the details on various parks related projects and figure out how they can be accomplished. Often the conversation turns to funding, as an advisory committee we can’t direct the town to spend any money. That all has to be negotiated by the town council itself.
One of the Parks Commission members, Martin Howard, thought it would a great idea to plant some additional trees along Morris St, which is the main thoroughfare into our quint little town. Morris Street is the first impression anyone gets when they come into La Conner. Martin took the time to identify over 16 possible planting sites along the street. Many of these sites had already been allocated by the town for a tree. Some of the sites were considered public property, and some of the sites were private property so it was important to communicate with the various impacted parties and receive written authorization before we proceeded. This also required a presentation at the City Council to get their blessing on the project.
To our delight the project was given a green light. However no funding was allocated for the project which is understandable. There are many challenges which our town faces which have a higher priority than tree planting. It was Martin’s and my belief that we could solicit funds from the local community and that this model would not only plant trees on Morris Street but also at other locations in the town.
Before we asked for money we needed to get an idea of what it would cost to purchase and plant a tree. We consulted with a local arborist, James Barborinas, who kindly donated some time to our cause. He recommended trees which would be happy in an urban environment, require low maintenance, would not send roots out to buckle the sidewalk, and had a profile which didn’t block traffic signs. We settled on three species, The Kindred Spirit Oak, Musachino Zelkova, or the Parrotia Golden Belltower.
You don’t just dig a hole in the ground and put a tree in it, as we discovered. We consulted with the Town of La Conner Department of Public works. Utility location is required before any holes are dug. Turns out there is a lot of stuff under Morris Street which would be better off left undisturbed. Equipment would need to be brought in to dig the hole, the hole would need to be lined with a root barrier. New soil to plant the tree in. Purchase and transport of the tree. A tree canteen to water the tree. The rough estimate was about 1000.00 per tree.
To raise money for this project a non-profit organization named “A Tree on Morris St” was formed. The only purpose of this non-profit is to raise money for planting trees. The three board members, Martin Howard, Mike Bucy, and Ollie Iverson are all volunteers and do not draw any paycheck for this cause. The only expenses the non-profit has are fees and legal documents for maintaining the non-profit and website maintenance. A shout out to Zeffy for providing donation processing absolutely free. I think it’s safe to say that 98% of your donation is going to plant trees.
We have decided to recognize those who donate at the thousand dollar level with a plaque near the tree which was purchased with your donation. In addition those who wish to memorialize a donation can also be represented with a plaque. We are still researching the material the plaques will be made from but it is our intention to design them to last the life of the tree.
There are three ways to donate. Click on the Link below. Call 206-280-8622 and leave a message. Or Contact Tami at the Washington Federal branch in La Conner. Your donation is tax deductable.