Photos by Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
James Milard of Olympia pedals his bicycle past a Japanese tree lilac row on west Olympia's Thomas Street. The trees were planted by NeighborWoods participants.

There are more than 25 varieties of NeighborWoods trees awaiting planting around Olympia, including this Cascade Mountain ash tree.

A Japanese tree lilac graces Thomas Street thanks to the NeighborWoods Program.

Tree program is on the grow

NeighborWoods' boost from City Council means more trees for Olympia residents

SARAH JACKSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Sept. 1

OLYMPIA -- Awaiting a new life on a boulevard somewhere in Olympia, there are trees -- hundreds of them -- waiting for homes.

One of Olympia's best-kept landscaping secrets, these gems are NeighborWoods trees -- English oak, crimson king maple, mountain ash, flowering plum and hawthorn, to name a few.

And they're all set for planting this fall as part of the free NeighborWoods program sponsored by the city of Olympia, credited with planting more than 1,500 "street trees" and educating upwards of 350 residents since 1997.

Size wise

What's astonishing to the many residents who receive the trees each year isn't that they're free.

It's their size -- often 6 feet to 15 feet high upon arrival.

Nurtured for two or three years at wholesale nurseries in Washington and Oregon, the bare-root trees arrive in Olympia in the spring to be potted and nursed again until the fall when Olympia residents -- who go through the training program -- receive their bounty.

While many residents find places for a only a few trees, some are eligible for more than 15.

"Everyone is so surprised when they see the trees. These are just amazing," Urban Forestry Advisory Board member Lois Cheney said while visiting a NeighborWoods nursery recently. "They're really nursery quality."

Joe Roush, the city's urban forester, said the trees will be ready for planting in October and November to fill more than 20,000 potential street-tree spaces remaining in residential Olympia.

"Within five years, you really get a tree that starts to get very treelike," Roush said. "They're a very nice, very large tree."

New nursery

NeighborWoods, which Roush started with a grant from the Department of Natural Resources, provides training and trees to enhance neighborhood streets.

Bolstered last week by a $50,000 boost from the City Council, NeighborWoods officials plan to nearly double the more than 300 trees available each year.

Next fall, the city could offer up to 800 free trees -- many with retail values of more than $100.

Roush said the funding will pay for additional NeighborWoods staffing, outreach and a new nursery, allowing NeighborWoods to consolidate trees from two temporary nursery sites -- one at South Puget Sound Community College and another at a Department of Transportation site in Olympia.

One-day training

NeighborWoods, Roush said, is still signing up residents for the training sessions -- set for Sept. 22 and Oct. 6.

So far, 50 residents have expressed interest.

"We would like to enroll at least another 100 people this fall," Roush said.

Training requires one Saturday morning with one hour of classroom instruction and three to four hours of hands-on experience planting trees.

Before the training sessions, NeighborWoods staff visit each prospective site to help applicants determine the appropriate trees.

Site constraints for certain types of trees may include overhead power lines, already-existing trees and vegetation or underground utility lines.

After the site inspection and free training, applicants receive their trees.

Residents then are in charge of planting in or near the public right-of-way so that the public can benefit from them.

On larger projects -- or if residents aren't physically capable of planting the trees -- the NeighborWoods staff can help find volunteers to help.

NeighborWoods

While some participants may be eligible for only one free tree, entire neighborhoods can band together to create a boulevard of trees that could -- years later -- turn into a canopy.

"We also have folks who become certified NeighborWoods citizens, and they can actually be the point person for their whole neighborhood," said Kevin McFarland, the NeighborWoods program administrator.

Neighborhood groups across Olympia -- from Central Avenue to Goldcrest Drive -- have worked together to plant numerous trees for a unified look.

Russ Lehman spearheaded a NeighborWoods planting project with more than 30 participants on Thomas Street, where he owns a home in west Olympia.

Now Japanese tree lilacs -- 10 of them nearly 10 feet high -- explode with white blooms every June.

Although the trees are only a few years old, they've dramatically changed the landscape, Lehman said.

"Our neighborhood is not a 'Street of Dreams'-type of development," Lehman said.

"These trees have helped to really change that because they soften the view down the street, up the street. It was a great kind of neighborhood community effort. Everybody wanted in on it."

Long-term care

Not only does the training help put in new street trees, but it also teaches residents to properly care for all their trees and, perhaps, encourage them to plant more.

"Over the five years we have not lost any trees, I think," McFarland said. "It shows people are really learning something from it."

"That's one of the goals of NeighborWoods -- is to educate the population about trees in general," Roush said.

Though Lacey and Tumwater haven't kicked off NeighborWoods programs yet, similar programs are springing up from Seattle to Yelm, McFarland said.

Lehman hopes the Olympia program -- which also offers occasional troubleshooting assistance for residents in the program -- continues to take off.

"There are a lot of folks who just don't know about it. I think many neighborhoods would really benefit from trees."

Sarah Jackson writes for The Olympian and can be reached at 360-704-6871 or olyjax@yahoo.com.

Free trees

- NeighborWoods: Sign up -- if you're an Olympia resident -- for tree-planting training and free trees. Call Joe Roush on the NeighborWoods hot line at 360-753-4444, Ext. 3810. Training sessions are set for 8 a.m. to noon Sept. 22 and Oct. 6.

- The National Arbor Day Foundation: Get 10 free trees (flowering or blue spruce) for joining the foundation for $10. Ten 6-inch to 12-inch trees will come postpaid with easy planting instructions. Fall shipments start in mid-October.

Join the foundation and read "Nine Things You Should Know about Trees" at www.arborday.org, or call the foundation's Nebraska City, Neb., offices at 402-474-5655.

- Be on the lookout for Arbor Day celebrations -- which often include free trees -- across South Sound on April 10, 2002.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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