Restoring Urban Canopy at the James W. Garner Building
November 6, 2019 9:24 am
On the morning of November 4, a crew of volunteers from Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards (CATS) and a University of Virginia chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) worked with several Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) staff members to plant 16 trees on the DOF campus front lawn.
The driveway and the lawn are the first places that visitors see when arriving to the DOF James W. Garner building in Charlottesville; these native trees welcome visitors to our building, so their care and maintenance are especially important.
Earlier this season, several unhealthy trees were removed from the front lawn; CATS helped source appropriate trees to restore the urban canopy on this part of the campus. Trees planted included one bitternut hickory (which was especially difficult to source), three sweetbay magnolia, two cucumber magnolia, two Kentucky coffeetree, two catalpa, two osage-orange and three redbuds.
CATS has helped with tree plantings and care on the DOF campus for many years, including assistance with two major plantings on campus during the past five years. One of the future goals for CATS is to help the DOF campus gain a Level I arboretum designation, which will entail an inventory of the species on the DOF property, labeling 25 woody plant species and developing a master plan to reach the minimum requirements for arboretum designation. DOF staff will develop the plan, label the trees and provide the CATS crew with the necessary tools and information to conduct an inventory in the coming year.
Some of the trees planted on campus (including some planted along the DOF campus nature trail) already have QR codes that visitors can scan to get more information about the species.
Lara Johnson is appreciative of all the dedication and support from CATs – from their assistance with tree planting, pruning and general care to their management of the new small-scale tree nursery at the DOF headquarters. At this location, CATS grows seedlings sourced from the DOF nurseries and later sells them at seasonal native plant sales.
DOF staff look forward to watching the newly planted trees grow big and strong in the coming years. It is with the support of volunteer naturalist groups like CATS that DOF can perform these special projects.
CATS offers trainings for new members each fall. They also host tree- and forest-related events throughout the year. Learn more about getting involved with CATS:
www. charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org/
Tags: Urban Forestry, Volunteer
Category: Urban and Community Forestry