Rows of freshly planted cherry trees now grace an older Auburn neighborhood, thanks to a community grant and some hard work.
Lawn strips along the sidewalks of 2nd Street Southeast and K Street Southeast made way for 38 flowering cherry trees last Saturday. The planting party was made possible by a nearly $3,000 neighborhood grant that homeowners pursued from the City of Auburn through the help of the Urban Tree Board. It is the third grant of its kind to be awarded to an Auburn community.
Several volunteers, including the hustle and muscle of local Boy Scout Troops 301 and 366, spent the unseasonably warm morning planting the trees on strips in front of homes whose owners approved the procedure. Most of the trees will be nurtured through the first few years by the homeowner, while others will be cared for by Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation Department personnel.
As part of Auburn’s Tree City USA designation, the City of Auburn Planning Department manages community grants that encourage citizens to apply for tree plantings in residential and commercial neighborhoods. In exchange for financial assistance, groups must commit to plant, water and maintain the trees.
The “Prunus serrulata Royal Burgundy” cherry trees will grow to about 18-20 feet tall and 15 feet wide, according to Kirk Hadley, horticulturist/arborist for Auburn Parks. If maintained, the trees will mature in 20 years and live considerably longer, Hadley said.
“And they’re compatible with the power lines and the sidewalks. They will clear traffic and pedestrians,” said Hadley, who coordinated the project along with Mike Miller, Parks maintenance manager. “And these have a nice, rosy pink blossom, like the trees in Les Gove Park. … These trees are very manageable.”
Miller, meanwhile, hopes to secure the means for the next planting project targeted along Park Avenue.
In addition, Furny’s Nursery of Des Moines donated 81 trees to Auburn Parks. The trees, valued at more than $9,000, were planted throughout city parks, including nearly 50 at Mountain View Cemetery and five more at the Auburn Municipal Golf Course.
Last Saturday’s tree planting event served as Sean Brinkmann’s Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project for Troop 366. His older brother, Zach, now serving with the Army in Afghanistan, was an Eagle Scout.
Auburn is designated by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA, which recognizes communities that effectively manage their urban forest and meet standards. Those standards include having a tree governing body; maintaining a comprehensive community forestry program that spends at least $2 per capita on the urban forest; maintaining a tree care ordinance; and holding an annual celebration related to Arbor Day.
For more information about the Urban Tree Board or to nominate an individual or company as a tree steward, please call the Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation Department at 253-931-3043.
