White Pine Grove in the Making
Happy April, Everyone!
Treetroit 2 is in the beginning stages of implementation!
We are looking for Volunteers to help clean up the site (cut overgrowth, feed the wood chipper, pick up garbage), lay a brick path, dig holes for trees and plant them, run wheelbarrows of wood chips around, and just sit with the trees.
At this point, volunteers have been working independently simultaneously, two or three at a time. The space is about 10,000 square feet. so there is plenty of space to observe current standards of personal distance. We are scheduling the work around availability and comfort of volunteers. Please speak up about which jobs interest you and how independently you prefer to work- we can set you up with tools and job description and allow time to work completely alone if this is what you are looking for. We all like to work alone at times.
It is timely that we are planting our first evergreen arb in these times. This portion of the Arboretum will offer us all its antiviral and antibacterial benefits- it is centered around a mature White Pine. Working and sitting under this tree we breathe the wonderful aerosols she puts out and drops to the floor of long soft pine needles. With this project we will create a grove of White Pines underneath and around this tree planted fifty years ago in what was then a neat backyard. We are so grateful to be able to honor this tree in such fashion. And we are extra excited that the daughter of the man who planted her, Miss Sandy, still lives right across the street from it. She is delighted to see the clean up and hopes we uncover her father’s roses and tulips. We are removing several very wild trees that have been both growing and dying close to the White Pine’s trunk and through her canopy. We will give this matriarch something to mother about, by planting five young White Pines within the network of her root system, building a strong interconnected grove. We are adding a few cedars to the design to amplify both the antiviral effect and the lesson of this 2020 arb. The idea is that trees produce antimicrobials to protect themselves and when we hang around trees they protect us too. There is a lot of great research into the many benefits of trees and if you are interested to learn more about tree aerosols check out the work of Forest Medicine expert Diana Beresford-Kroeger and environmental immunologist and “Forest Bathing” researcher Dr. Quing Li.
This project will likely go into the summer, so if you need any outdoor time where you don’t have to worry about catching anything. If you are into the clean air, birdsong and space come work, or sit. Bench first! If anyone has a bench they are looking to give away, this would be a great place to donate it to! Email treetroit@gmail.com, and we’ll make sure you get to be a part of this park!
We are also looking for volunteers for park maintenance through the spring and the summer. This may be something you personally are into, and maybe you work for a company who likes to send their employees out into the neighborhoods on volunteer days. These tasks include pulling weeds, picking up garbage, edging the grass and mowing.
If you would like to help, either fill out the form on the website, or email treetroit@gmail.com.
THANK YOU!!!!