Example TreeUtah Planting Project Application

We do not expect applications to include multiple components such as the three plantings described in this application. These components are included to help give the applicant more ideas about how trees can be used to accomplish specific goals.

1. Who is applying for this tree planting project?

City of Treesville

100 South 100 West

Treesville, UT 84000

Main contact for coordinating the tree planting and volunteer recruitment:

John Appleseed, (801)-555-5555, fax (801) 555-1111, JAppleseed@treeplanter.com

Main contact for follow-up tree maintenance:

Jessica Prunswell, (801)-555-5555, fax (801) 555-1111, JPrunswell@treecare.com

2. Who owns and manages the property where the trees will be planted?

The City of Treesville owns the park where we would like to plant the trees. However, the area along the edge of the park borders the State Highway and is managed by the Utah Department of Transportation.

___________-Signed-_________________

James Cool, Treesville City Mayor (222) 555-4321

___________-Signed-_________________

Janet Smith, District Supervisor Utah Department of Transportation (222) 555-1234

3. Why do you want to do a tree planting project?

The City of Treesville would like to plant trees in two areas of our city park and along a right-of-way managed by Utah Department of Transportation. The first planting area in the park is on the Northwest corner. We would like to plant a mini-forest with a mix of native coniferous trees, deciduous trees, and shrubs. All turf grass will be removed from the planting area and replaced with a bed of mulched green waste. We plan to reduce the amount of green waste we haul out of the park by placing it in this area. This mini-forest will provide for a natural looking area in the park, habitat for urban wildlife, and help block cold winter winds so people can enjoy the park for a longer portion of the year. A local Eagle Scout candidate has agreed to make small signs to identify all of the native trees and shrubs as a way to help promote the use of native vegetation in private landscaping.

The second planting area in the park is along the Western edge of the basketball courts. We would like to plant large shade trees in this area to reduce the heat caused by afternoon summer sun. By planting shade trees on the West side of the courts we hope to maintain the open feel of the courts while providing shade in the afternoon when the courts are most often used. These trees will also provide a more comfortable area for spectators to sit and watch basketball games.

Our third proposed planting site is along the state highway right-of-way that runs down the East side of our city park. We would like to plant a mix of trees and shrubs in this area to provide a visual and audio screen between the highway and park. Planting both trees and shrubs will help create a dense screen. Many residents have complained that the sights and sounds of the nearby highway detract from their experience at the park. These trees and shrubs will also help increase rain infiltration and reduce soil erosion along the highway drainage ditch.

By hosting a tree care workshop we hope to increase technical knowledge of city staff who are responsible for trees in our parks and along our streets. Specifically they would like more information on watering and pruning trees. We also hope to energize and give new ideas to our volunteer Beautification Team.

4. What species of trees, how many of each species, and what size do you intend to plant?

Note: All tree selections below were made using the “Utah Water-Wise Plants” website www.waterwiseplants.utah.gov. The website allows you to search for trees based on a variety of different features of the trees. We highly recommend using this resource or other tree information sources to help you pick the tree species that are best for your planting site.

Mini-forest Site:

Trees

3 Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis) 30' high –very low water needs

3 Bigtooth Maple (Acer grandidentatum) 20-30' high by 20-25' wide –avoid grafted version

4 Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) up to 15-25' high with variable spread –shade tolerant

3 Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii) 15-20' high by 10-20' wide –plant in a group

Shrubs

5 Little-Leaf Mock Orange (Philadelphus microphyllus) 6' high by 4' wide –shade tolerant

5 Squaw Bush (Oak-Leaf Sumac) (Rhus trilobata) –shade tolerant

Basketball Courts Site:

3 Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) 60-80' high by 50-70' wide

3 Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) 50-60' high by 30-40' wide

3 Zelkova (Zelkova serrata) 50-80' high with equal spread

3 Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra) 50-60' high by 20-40' wide

State Highway Site:

2 Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) 40-50' in height with a 15-30' spread

2 Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra) 50-60' high by 20-40' wide

2 Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) 40-60' high by 80-100' wide

2 Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris) 30-60' high by 30-40' wide

4 Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) up to 15-25' high with variable spread –plant on park side of

conifers to increase visual interest, promote nesting birds, and increase density of the planting to block road noise and view (note: the rest of the trees in this planting are coniferous trees that will provide a year-round visual and audio barrier)

5. How many volunteers and/or staff members do you expect to attend the tree care

workshop and how many will participate in the tree planting? How will you recruit volunteers to plant the trees?

We expect to have twelve people at the tree care workshop. Participants will include five employees from our Parks Department, three from our Streets Department, and four volunteer members of the Treesville Beautification Team.

We expect twenty-five people to attend the tree planting. Participants will include the original twelve people identified above for the tree care workshop and at least thirteen more volunteers from the community. We will recruit volunteers by placing two articles about the tree planting in our local newspaper, one article two weeks before the planting and one the week before the planting. We will also contact organizers of the basketball and baseball leagues who use the park to recruit teams to come out and help plant trees. We are very excited about getting people from these teams out to help plant the trees. By getting people who use the park often invested in these trees we can reduce the potential for tree vandalism in the future.

6. How will the newly planted trees be watered?

Mini-forest Site: Newly planted trees will be watered over the short-term by the Parks Department with our water truck and a hose. The hose will be used to hand water each plant twice a week during the first summer after planting and again during the second summer, especially if we have a drought. Long-term watering (once the trees are well-established) will be accomplished with a drip irrigation system. Drip lines with drip emitters will be placed under the mulch in rows throughout the planting area. The drip irrigation systems will be designed to periodically (weekly or biweekly depending on climate) deliver a very slow and deep watering to the area. Slow and deep watering promotes deep healthy root systems. Properly designed drip irrigation systems are a very “water wise” way of irrigating trees and other vegetation.

Basketball Court Site: Trees in this area will be watered over the short-term by the Parks Department with our water truck and a hose. The hose will be used to hand water each plant twice a week during the first summer after planting and again during the second summer, especially if we have a drought. Sprinkler irrigation will be used for long-term watering in this area (once the trees are well-established). Sprinklers that spray over the planting area will be set to periodically (weekly or biweekly depending on climate) irrigate for a longer period of time than our typical lawn sprinkler duration. By periodically irrigating for a longer period of time we are able to soak water deeper into the soil (6 or more inches deep) to promote healthy tree roots. Typical lawn irrigation settings only soak the top two or three inches of soil. This shallow watering is fine for turf grass but it dries out quickly and forces new tree roots to stay shallow and compete with grass roots for limited water and nutrients.

State Highway Site: Trees in this area will be watered over the short-term by the Parks Department with our water truck and hose. The hose will be used to hand water each plant twice a week during the first summer after planting, and again during the second summer, especially if we have a drought. Long-term watering (once the trees are well-established) will be accomplished with a mix of hand watering from our water truck and water from the drainage ditch. Trees that are planted on the slope of the drainage ditch should eventually send roots down into the soil that is irrigated by storm flows in the ditch. During drought conditions the water truck will be used to hand water the plantings.

7. Provide a brief schedule of proposed activities associated with the project.

March- Get notification of funding from TreeUtah and call/visit nurseries to locate and hold quality stock of the tree species we intend to plant.

April- Install and test new components of the irrigation system. Stay in contact with TreeUtah to set the date for the planting and tree care workshop. Begin volunteer recruitment activities.

May- Confirm planting date and tree care workshop date. Complete volunteer recruitment. Plant the trees in later part of the month. Spread mulch around the newly planted trees. Begin watering the new trees.

June through October- Continue watering trees as needed.

8. Provide a proposed budget that includes the amount of funding you are requesting from TreeUtah, matching contributions, and the intended use of all funds.

Note: The budget above is only intended to cover the cost of the “Mini-forest” planting described in question #3. We do not expect applications to include multiple components such as the three plantings described in this application. These components were included to help give the reader more ideas about how trees can be used to accomplish specific goals.