ROOTING FOR GROWTH
Help sought for Tree Toga planting this Saturday
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> About 100 volunteers are expected to dig in, get their hands dirty and plant 35 trees around the city this Saturday under Sustainable Saratoga’s next Tree Toga project.
At 9:30 a.m., volunteers will gather at the High Rock Park Farmers’ Market Pavilion for registration, training and site assignments before disbursing to various locations throughout the city.
After the morning’s work, volunteers are encouraged to gather at Harvey’s Restaurant and Bar on Phila Street to refuel and celebrate. Volunteer planters are still needed and interested people can pre-register at http://www.sustainablesaratoga.org/treetoga6/.
Sustainable Saratoga organizes two Tree Toga planting events per year — on the last Saturday in April and the first Saturday in October.
The city’s Department of Public Works partners each year on the April event by providing 25 trees from its tree budget. Donations to Sustainable Saratoga’s tree fund pay for the 10 additional trees.
In October, Sustainable Saratoga pays for all 25 trees, with money obtained from private donations.
Most plantings will be street trees in the city’s right-of-way in front of private homes. Homeowners can volunteer to be tree hosts, by agreeing to water and nurture the street tree during its first two vulnerable years. Such care is critical to the trees’ survival and the program’s success
A few trees will be planted on city or school district properties, including some run by the recreation department. Trees have many benefits. According to the city’s 2013 Urban & Community Forest Master Plan, trees are one of the most cost-effective elements of the city’s infrastructure. They enhance retail and restaurant profitability, increase property values, save energy, improve air quality, slow climate change by storing carbon, reduce water pollution and water treatment costs and enhance people’s mental and physical health. They also beautify the city, provide habitat for songbirds and other wildlife, and provide a direct link to Saratoga’s vibrant history.
Sustainable Saratoga only plants large shade trees because they provide far greater environmental and economic benefits than small ornamental ones.
The Forest Master Plan envisions the kinds of large trees that historically shaped the popular Saratoga experience of yesteryear.
The variety of trees is alternated from year to year.
On Saturday, plans call for planting hackberry, Kentucky yellowwood, ginkgo, honey locust, American elm and oak trees. Sustainable Saratoga does not plant maples.
A 2012 inventory of trees revealed that over 60 percent of the city trees were maples, an over-reliance that leaves the urban forest vulnerable to disease and pests.
For more information, go to www.sustainablesaratoga.org/ projects/urban-forestry- project/.