What We're Thankful For

Tree Trust has a lot to be thankful for this year and in the spirit of Thanksgiving we would like to reflect on some of the things that make us thankful for being a part of this great organization.

• We had five successful Learning with Trees events this year. Besides the events being fun, it also gives us an opportunity to see budding environmental stewards as children help to improve the landscape at their schools by planting trees!

• With the help of volunteers we recently planted trees in North Minneapolis, Eden Prairie, and Fridley. Volunteer participation allows us to have these events, and also gives people an opportunity to work alongside their neighbors while bettering their community.

• In September we snagged some media attention when we teamed up with Jason Mraz, KS95, and Reverb for a planting event. The publicity was great and only helps to raise awareness of the importance of our work.

• Last but not least on our list of things that we're thankful for this fall, we are thankful for being one of four finalists for the Toro Grant Initiative "Green Spaces Make Better Places," which makes us eligible to win a $7,000 grant. You can help us win that grant by voting here.

Before you go out shopping on Black Friday remember that dedicating a Green Futures tree to someone makes a great Christmas gift! We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

E-Cycling for Schools

OceanTech, an organization dedicated to providing environmentally responsible electronics recycling, is offering its 3^rd Annual Educators’ E-cycling Initiative until November 1, 2012. Tree Trust will receive a one cent donation from OceanTech for every pound of e-waste that it collects from schools.

OceanTech is improving our Twin Cities environment through recycling and responsibly disposing of e-waste, preventing harmful chemicals from leaching into groundwater, air, and soil. They will help to improve our environment further by contributing to the Green Futures fund, which supports community tree planting events in Twin Cities parks and recreation areas.

So far this year, they have collected 95,532 pounds of e-waste! That's $955.32 that they will contribute to planting trees through the Tree Trust Green Futures fund. Can you help us increase that number? Speak to your school, you child's school, or a school in your neighborhood and find out if they have some old, unused electronics that need to be disposed of properly.

There are nine days left for your school to participate, so what are you waiting for? Learn more about OceanTech from their website, or call Josh Heath from OceanTech at 612-331-4456 or email him for more information.

Volunteer this fall!

Have you ever volunteered with Tree Trust? Would you like to? We are looking for volunteers to help plant trees as part of our annual GreenFutures plantings. The first will be on Saturday, October 6 in Eden Prairie at Forest Hills Park and the second will be in Fridley on Saturday, October 13 at the Springbrook Nature Center. 

Tree Trust staff and Tree Trainers train volunteers on-site on the proper method of planting a tree so no experience is necessary - just be willing to learn, have fun and enjoy the outdoors! Plantings are family-friendly, so feel free to bring your kids  as long as they are well-supervised. Check out the volunteer page of our website to learn more and sign up!

Are you interested in becoming a Tree Trainer? Tree Trainers learn how to lead other volunteers and students in planting trees properly at Green Futures and Learning with Trees plantings. Tree Trainers have to attend a training and volunteer at two events per year. We just happen to have a Tree Trainer Training this Saturday, September 29 with a few openings left. Sign up here!

Green Futures gives volunteers a chance to actively participate in improving our local environment. In addition, individuals can support the program through contributions to the Green Futures Fund. Nearly $50,000 has been donated to Green Futures since 2008 and each dollar donated by individuals is matched by a local family foundation.

Each $150 in the fund plants another tree for a total of over 720 trees planted in the Twin Cities to date! Trees planted through Green Futures are six- to ten-feet tall well-established trees which have a much greater chance of survival than seedlings.

Please consider joining us for an event this fall. Volunteering with Tree Trust is a great, hands-on way to give back to the community!

Jason Mraz and Tree Trust

Jason Mraz has a show at the Target Center in Minneapolis this Sunday, September 16. Mraz is a great supporter of environmental causes and he plans to plant trees with Tree Trust on Sunday morning. This effort is the result of a partnership between Mraz, Tree Trust, Reverb, and KS95.

Some lucky fans will have a chance to join Mraz and Tree Trust in the planting event and win free tickets to the concert through a contest on KS95. Contest winners were selected yesterday.

The Tree is A Four Letter Word campaign launched as part of the 2012 Jason Mraz North American tour. It supports local environmental organizations and aims to engage and inspire fans to take action.

Tree Trust will also be at the concert on Sunday with an informational table in the "eco-village." We will be selling stickers, the proceeds of which will benefit our programs! Feel free to stop by prior to the concert for information about our programs and to purchase a sticker.

End of Summer at Tree Trust

Though the summer isn't technically over yet, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of the season for most Minnesotans. At Tree Trust, our summer season ends in August with the completion of the Summer Youth Employment Program, the summer cohort of the Young Adult Conservation Corps, and the YouthBuild advanced crew. All of the youth employment training programs work with youth in the summer months, and some work with youth year-round.

Summer is a busy time of year for our youth programs. Youth who are not in school for the summer have more time on their hands and greater need of guidance and positive activities than they do during the school year. Every summer for the past 36 years, Tree Trust has been here to provide youth with work experience, educational enrichment, and a paycheck for their summer work experience. 

So while most Minnesotans have been out enjoying the summer, Tree Trust staff have been here helping our participants find positive direction. Now that summer is closing and many of our youth participants have returned to school, we take a little time to catch our breath before we hit the ground running with fall forestry events, new crews of YouthBuild and Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) youth, and just generally preparing for the upcoming 2013 year.

By October, we’ll have nearly 50 youth participating with YouthBuild and YACC crews and Community Forestry has a busy autumn with Green Futures and Learning with Trees plantings. Thanks to all who have provided funding for Green Futures plantings this year – and especially to our anonymous donor who matches all of these contributions. 

Public plantings will be held in parks in Eden Prairie and Fridley in early October. Learning with Trees projects at schools in Orono and Brooklyn Park are being funded by CenterPoint Energy and Beim Foundation. We will also work with Wells Fargo and their volunteer team and a generous anonymous donor to plant more trees in selected parts of tornado-damaged North Minneapolis.

Tree Trust had a busy summer working with over 600 youth, and the break between seasons is short as we shift gears and move into our fall projects starting... now.

Community Forestry Highlights

This summer we had a great intern, Christina, who did a lot of video work for Tree Trust. We'll be posting some of her work in the coming weeks and months. Here is the first installment:

Enjoy!

FREE E-cycling Initiative to Benefit Tree Trust

OceanTech, an organization dedicated to providing environmentally responsible electronics recycling, is offering its 3^rd Annual Educators’ E-cycling Initiative from now until November 1, 2012. For every pound of e-waste collected by schools during this time, OceanTech will donate one cent to Tree Trust!

Electronics that are not properly recycled can release damaging chemicals into our environment, harming plants, animals, and people. OceanTech reuses collected items when possible, and works with a variety of recyclers to recycle all possible components following EPA and Hennepin County guidelines.

In addition to the great benefits to the environment that their work already has, OceanTech wants to support our community environment with every pound of electronics that they collect from area schools. Last year OceanTech collected more than 200,000 pounds of used electronics from schools across Minnesota. This year the goal is to bring in 500,000 pounds, which would raise enough for Tree Trust to hold a community planting in the metro area!

OceanTech has specific methods they prefer to have used for preparation and transportation of items. In some cases there may be fees assessed for logistics and loading. Contact Josh Heath at OceanTech with questions or for more information.

Please help us recycle used electronics for FREE and benefit our Twin Cities community in the process!

Tornado Anniversary

On May 22, a tree was planted in the yard of Jan Carstens to honor her husband, Rob MacIntyre, who died in the tornado that devastated sections of North Minneapolis one year ago. Rob was a great friend to the environment and to the youth crews from Tree Trust who worked on projects in his neighborhood over the years. Following his death and at the request of Jan, a fund was set up at Tree Trust in Rob's name which will restore trees to the North Minneapolis community. Consider making a donation to the Rob MacIntyre Fund to help our neighbors while they continue the recovery process. 

A lot of great organizations, government agencies, and individuals have been on the ground providing assistance, but there is much more to be done. Estimated costs for recovery efforts have reached over $80 million. Tree Trust will continue to work with many partners to aid in restoring trees to the community during the coming months and years. Partners to date include the City of Minneapolis, State Farm, Wells Fargo, Xcel Energy, Minnesota Helps - North Minneapolis Recovery Fund, Bachmans, Knecht Nurseries and Landscaping and Taylor Truck Line.

Tree Trust has always had a focus on serving the neighborhoods of North Minneapolis and the recovery effort has created an even greater focus on the area. Our YouthBuild program has worked to rehab and rebuild homes and apartment buildings in tornado damaged neighborhoods. Our Community Forestry Department has distributed over 600 trees so far to residents of North Minneapolis who had their tree canopy devastated by the tornado and we will roll out additional tree restoration programs later this year. Many of the youth who participate in Tree Trust programs are residents of North Minneapolis and are proud to be able to help the areas where they live.

Tree Trust is grateful for the support of the metro community toward our work in North Minneapolis and we'll continue doing all we can in the coming months and years. Visit Tree Trust's website to make a donation or for more information.

For an update on recovery efforts by the City of Minneapolis, visit the Minneapolis Recovers: North Side Tornado page of the City of Minneapolis website.

Tree Trust partners with Groupon Grassroots

Tree Trust is partnering with Groupon Grassroots to raise money to plant trees through our Green Futures program! What is Groupon Grassroots? An offshoot of the popular Groupon deal-of-the-day website, the Grassroots initiative is "a new way to discover local causes, rally together, and lend a helping hand." It provides an opportunity for nonprofits to raise awareness for their cause, reach out to new donors, and raise money to support their mission.

For Tree Trust, this partnership will help spread the word of our Green Futures initiative and help us get more trees in the ground in our community!

If you are already a Groupon subscriber in the Twin Cities metro area, you will receive email notification of our campaign. Tree Trust must have 65 people contribute $10 for us to benefit at all. 

Since this benefits our Green Futures campaign every donation will be matched dollar for dollar by our anonymous donor, doubling your impact!  And if that isn't enough, once we have raised enough to have a community planting event, you can plant trees with us as a volunteer.

Consider contributing to Tree Trust via Groupon. New donors will be more likely to give once they see that others are excited about a cause. Your contribution of just $10 will help us plant trees, attract new donors, and raise awareness of our efforts!

Volunteer with Tree Trust

TREE TRUST VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES beginning in May.

Please see the information below and click on the link associated with each event. All of these events will take place rain or shine. If you wish to be notified of future events, we recommend you subscribe to TreeNews, our paperless newsletter. You can sign-up on the left side of the front page of our website at www.treetrust.org. 

UPCOMING VOLUNTEER EVENTS 

What:  REFOREST ST. LOUIS PARK COMMUNITY PLANTING

When:  May 12^th 9am-Noon

Where:  Oak Hill Park, 3201 Rhode Island Avenue South, St. Louis Park 55426

Sign up here:  http://tinyurl.com/ReForest-SLP-Planting

Nothing beats going home dirty on a lovely May morning after planting trees! We can’t promise the weather will be perfect, but we can promise you’ll have a great time planting trees in a pretty fantastic park. We’ll be planting about 45 trees around the park, plus mulching and watering. You’ll learn how to properly plant a tree and make some new friends. We’re looking for 40-50 people for this volunteer event. Our planting opportunities fill up fast, so if you’re interested sign up now! Planting events are family-friendly, so feel free to bring your kids. 

P.S. This planting is part of St. Louis Park’s Arbor Day event and runs concurrently with the Minnesota Tree Climbing championship. If you’ve never seen professional tree climbing against a clock, you should stick around after planting to check it out.

What: MINNEAPOLIS TREE DISTRIBUTION

When: May 12th multiple shifts - 6:45-11:00 am, 11:00 am-4:15 pm

May 13th multiple shifts - 7:45 am-12:00 pm, 12:00 pm-4:15 pm

May 14th 2:45-7:15 pm 

If you're interested in volunteering Saturday or Sunday but the timing of the shifts doesn't work quite right for your schedule, please contact Karen at karenz@treetrust.org.

Where:  City of Minneapolis Impound Lot-51 Colfax Avenue North, Minneapolis

Sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/MPLS-City-Trees 

 

Did you know that the City of Minneapolis has to remove thousands of trees each year lost to pests and disease? Did you know that the greatest opportunity to increase the tree canopy in Minneapolis is on private property? Help distribute 1,900 trees to Minneapolis residents as part of the annual three day tree distribution. We’ll need volunteers to not only help get trees into vehicles (great physical and mental exercise) but also to facilitate traffic control and check in. We’ll need around 20 people for each shift on Saturday and Sunday…got a group? Sign them all up!

We’ll also be starting Weeding Wednesdays along the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis this June…join us for a couple hours of midweek, mind clearing, weeding experiences. Locations to be determined. Keep an eye on our website for location details.

Thanks in advance. We hope to see you at a few of our events!

This Weekend's Yard Work

Plenty of people are wondering what kind of work they can do in their yards during the upcoming weekend. Tree Trust's Landscape Services Department has a few tips.

Water

There has been some rain lately, but we had a dry fall and winter. Lawns shouldn't need to be watered unless they are newly seeded or sodded. On the other hand, trees and shrubs are using immense amounts of energy at this time of year to produce new leaves and flowers and they may need water.

Check soil moisture by digging 3-6 inches deep in a few locations. If the soil is dry your trees or shrubs need water. One inch of water per week is a general guideline, but there is no substitute for digging in the soil and checking moisture content. If we are receiving steady rain, there is no need to water.

Bed Maintenance

Clean out planting beds! Remove leaves or debris around plants and cut back any spent perennial plant material left from last season to make room for new growth.

Mulch

Feel free to mulch trees and shrubs. At Tree Trust we prefer shredded mulch over wood chips. When mulching, remember: doughnuts, not volcanoes! The mulch should be a doughnut shape around the trunk and should not touch the trunk.

Plant
Plant trees and shrubs, but steer clear of other plants that have lower frost resistance. Learn how to plant your tree correctly.
 
Don't Prune!
Now is not the time to do any formative pruning of trees or shrubs. Trees are using tons of energy to produce new leaves and flowers. You don't want to divert the energy being used to leaf and flower to healing a pruning wound – unless it needs to be done due to storm damage.

Particularly avoid pruning oak, ash, and elm trees because of oak wilt, emerald ash borer, and Dutch elm disease. When a tree is healing a wound from pruning, it puts out pheromones that the elm bark beetle and the emerald ash borer are drawn to. Additionally, the tree is using a lot of energy to grow and you don't want to add to the stress level of the tree.

There is a lot that you can do to clean up your yard this weekend while enjoying the beautiful weather, just don't be too aggressive. No need to tear up the turf with raking if your yard is still spongey, and no need to plant anything that might be killed by frost. There is plenty of time yet this spring to get everything done.

Impressions of 2011 - Community Forestry

It seems as though each passing year welcomes a new threat to our urban forest. Emerald ash borer, Dutch elm disease, burr oak blight, thousand cankers, oak wilt, poor planting practices, other invasive pests, drought, and violent weather all seem to be conspiring against the beautiful trees that make the Twin Cities one of the most livable communities in the country. While many thousands of trees are lost each year to pests, disease, weather and just plain old age, our Community Forestry programming has been working hard to reverse the damage.

2011 started with celebration as one of our most dedicated volunteers, Giampaolo Malin, received a “Be the Change” award from HandsOn Twin Cities for his amazing efforts volunteering for Tree Trust. A dedicated Tree Trust Tree Trainer, Giampaolo rarely misses an opportunity to educate tree planting volunteers on proper planting techniques at our community plantings.

Spring arrived just in time for a beautiful Arbor Day planting along Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis. Approximately 100 volunteers got dirty planting nearly 1,000 shrubs and 50 trees on a lovely May morning. With assistance from Tree Trust’s Landscape Services and Young Adult Conservation Crews, the volunteers had enough shovels, wheel barrows and mulch to get the job done. 

 

Learning with Trees at Nellie Stone Johnson

As I increased in size (I was five months pregnant at the start of planting season), so did my staff. Diana Preisen, a former Young Adult Conservation Corps supervisor, made the leap to forestry; and Emily Hanson, a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, came in as a summer intern. The newly expanded forestry staff was kept busy with Learning with Trees plantings at Somerset Elementary School in West St. Paul, Hilltop Primary School in Minnetrista, and Nellie Stone Johnson Community School in North Minneapolis.  Through this program, over 1,000 students participated in the planting of trees on their school grounds. If you ever have an opportunity to volunteer for our school plantings, I highly recommend it…it will brighten your day.

The ReForest St. Louis Park program brought 40 new trees to Dakota Park in St. Louis Park. Volunteers showed up bright and early eager to work. Their efforts transformed this neighborhood park in just a few short hours. It’s amazing what many hands can accomplish.

Spring with Tree Trust’s Community Forestry also brings a deluge of phone calls from eager Minneapolis and St. Louis Park residents. Tree Trust again facilitated both cities’ annual tree distributions, making 1,750 trees available to residents to plant on their properties. There’s just something about seeing a Mini Cooper drive away with a six foot tree sticking out the back that fills my heart with hope for our urban forest. Multiply that by 1,750 and you have to believe things are looking up…unless, of course, there’s a tornado. 

North Minneapolis distribution

The devastating tornado that ripped through north Minneapolis on May 22nd, ironically during the second day of the Minneapolis tree distribution, took down thousands of trees. Fortunately through fundraising efforts, Tree Trust was able to provide 207, free and low cost trees to residents who lost trees during the storm. This horribly unfortunate event led to an opportunity for Community Forestry to reach out to citizens and fulfill Tree Trust’s mission to transform lives and landscapes. We are lucky to be able to offer this opportunity again in 2012 to residents affected by the storm.

During my maternity leave, fall community plantings continued with Diana and Emily running the show. This fall included two Green Futures plantings, one in Bloomington and another in Sunfish Lake. Because of these two plantings, and the donations that made them possible, 80 more trees were added to the urban forest and approximately fifty people learned how to properly plant trees. While we may never win the war against the multitude of threats to our urban forest, the 2,200 trees we helped to get in the ground this year sure feels like we may have won at least a battle. Trees are good. Plant on.

-Karen Zumach, Community Forestry Manager