Vent: I keep hearing people say planting a tree is the best thing you can do for the planet

I volunteered with a city reforestation project in Tacoma for two years. We planted hundreds of saplings, but the real work was the three years of watering and invasive species removal after. People buy a sapling, stick it in the ground, and call it a day. Without that follow-up care, most of them just die. Has anyone else seen a local project fail because of this?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinnr4015d ago

Our neighborhood group in Portland planted fifty oak saplings along a creek bank. We set up a watering schedule with five gallon buckets for the first two dry seasons. The key was assigning two people to check for bindweed and ivy every single Saturday morning. We lost maybe three trees total. The commitment after planting is what actually makes it work.

thompson.nathan11d ago

That weekly bindweed check is smart. It made me wonder if the soil itself was prepped before planting. Did you guys test for compaction or add any mulch rings? I've seen trees fail because nobody fixed the ground they went into.

the_holly15d ago

Read a study that backs up @quinnr40, showing survival rates double with that kind of follow-up care.