First CF Open House Scheduled

The first Community Forestry Open House is scheduled for Monday, June 29th at 7 pm in Veterans' Memorial Park.

- Learn about the value of trees.
- See a tree inventory in action.
- Provide input on the future of Cheney's trees.
- Learn about the Community Forestry project and Tree City, USA.

All are invited to attend. Please contact us if you would like to volunteer to help with the tree inventory during the event. It's a great opportunity to learn about trees!

More Arbor Day Press Coverage

In addition to being able to read about the May 29th Arbor Day event in the Cheney Free Press (here), you can also read about it in the June 11th edition of the West Plains Voice.

Arbor Day Poster Gallery

One feature of Cheney's Arbor Day event a couple weeks back was the poster gallery from Mrs. Fitzgerald's 4th grade class at Reid Elementary. The students were given the theme of "Cheney as a Tree City" and asked to make posters.

We had 13 excellent posters on display for the event. Here they are:

Tree Inventory to Begin Soon

The tree inventory aspect of the Community Forestry project will start soon. We will be selecting areas of the city, such as parks, neighborhoods, and sections of streets, in which to conduct inventories.

We will be collecting numerous pieces of data, ranging from species, trunk diameter, the condition of leaves and branches, and the degree to which maintenance is required. After all of the information is gathered from the field, we will then input it into two computer programs. One program, called SRATUM, will give us an estimated monetary value of the benefits that our trees provide us. The other program, called GIS, will allow us to incorporate the inventory data into computerized maps for easy reference.

In the future, the inventories will greatly help us in efficiently managing our trees. In the mean time, anyone interested in more information or possibly volunteering to help with the inventory is welcome to contact us.

Tree Pruning 101

Proper pruning is essential to ensure a healthy, long-living tree. Simple tree pruning can certainly be done by homeowners, but there are a few guidelines you should follow:

1. Do your research first - Check out a book on tree pruning from the library, do some internet searches, or take a look at the links on the bottom of this post. If you're unfamiliar with tree pruning, you'll likely do more harm than good.

2. Don't be afraid to consult a professional - It's important that you don't take on more than you can handle. If you're unsure about what you're doing, you should definitely consult a pro as opposed to doing something unsafe, damaging to the tree, or ending up with a result that you're unhappy with. Even if you want to do the work yourself, a professional arborist can give you free or cheap advice.

3. Be safe! - Make sure that you constantly have safety in mind. Never attempt to trim a tree that has branches in power lines. Again, don't try to tackle too big of a project on your own.

4. Be observant - Keep an eye on any dead or disease-ridden branches or leaves. Invasive insects can also be a problem. If something looks out of the ordinary, consult a professional arborist.

5. Don't trim inappropriately - Tree topping (see picture below) is one of the more common mistakes in tree pruning. As you can see, topping results in an extremely ugly tree that does more harm than good. A topped tree will become hazardous due to weak branches, and it becomes more susceptible to storm and insect / disease damage. Tree removal and replacement is preferred to topping.


Resources:
USDA Forest Service guide on pruning
National Arbor Day Foundation pruning animation
Spokane County Conservation District - Free advice on tree care
If you have a tree with branches in the power lines within the City of Cheney, call the Light Department at 498-9294.

Arbor Day 2009 Photos

A special thanks goes to:

Mayor Allan Gainer for making this project possible.

Paul Simmons for allowing us to plant in the park.

Garth Davis and the Spokane County Conservation District for donating the tree.

And, of course, Mrs. Fitzgerald and her 4th grade students at Reid Elementary.