One of our editors recently pointed out to me that nobody plants trees in Jefferson! Look at all the treeless space at the high school, fairgrounds, and even some residential areas. Are we missing something here, or do people just not like mowing around them?
8 comments:
This is the wrong time of the year to ask about planting trees. What do you want to jackhammer down in the dirt and put a tree in and hope it will grow in December or January, let alone February or March? You guys need to get your act together on this kind of stuff. It's no wonder that no one is responding to this crap. When the Bistro first started, it was pretty good, but now with Christmas plans, tree planting, & etc., I might as well be watching Martha Stewart or some 2 minute special on the Weather Channel.
Nobody is going to plant trees in December, you are right. What we are wondering is why nobody plants them any other time of year, either.
The entire High School/athletic complex is out in the wind and elements, with no trees. So is the fairgrounds, softball complex, and little league area.
Not long ago, the city council tried to obtain tax dollars to plant trees downtown. Here's an idea - everybody bring a tree and a spade and donate your own time and a few bucks! In the city I live in, people are always buying trees and planting them. Yet in Jefferson there are entire residential tracts that have been in existence for 40-50 years and are nearly devoid of trees!
If nobody in Jefferson likes trees, so be it. We here simply find that very odd.
I don't see the big deal. New York City gets by just fine without trees. The main reason for growing trees is to have a continuous supply of inexpensive firewood.
I think you bring up a good point, Rick. This town used to have beautiful tree-lined streets. I believe a lot of the tree population was wiped out years ago by Dutch Elm disease, or something along those lines. But not enough has been done to re-forest the town. You would think the growing emphasis on environmental awareness would have brought this out by now. I know in the early 90's the city commissioned a "Tree Plan" because my sister worked on it as part of her Horticulture major at DMACC ... wonder what dusty, unused drawer at City Hall that is residing in now?????
Oh, and Anonymous .... some of the faithful readers of this blog LIKE to see questions like this. We get tired of this being nothing but a bitch session and place to put down the town we have chosen to call home. I like the balance of discussion questions. While I don't always agree with them, they have given me much food for thought on how I could contribute to keeping Jefferson alive, and maybe even thrive again one day ......
Thanks for the nice post, Laura. I think that sometimes our readers prefer to be funny rather than address an issue. Now, trees are maybe not much of an issue, but it was intended as a serious post.
Dutch Elm disease ravaged trees across the U.S. throughout the last century. The beetle causing the disease arrived via ship in Ohio around 1930, and swept westward, arriving in Iowa in the 1960's, and just now has reached western Canada.
The thing is, that was 50 years ago, and many of the properties I mentioned in the original and follow-up posts were not even established at that time. Also, this blight struck all communities equally, and most responded by planting new trees, replacing the elms.
Jefferson should make an effort to plant trees next Arbor Day (the last Friday in April), or home owners should realize that mature trees increase their property value. Planting trees is an inexpensive way of taking pride in your home and community.
Seems like I missed something here. At the fairgrounds we have planted over 150 trees on our 30 acres over the last four years. It is quite a job keeping them all going!
Sorry about missing that, anon. Good job! What kind of trees are they and where are they located, exactly?
Are people repeating this in other local areas?
It looks to me like anonymous took nearly a month to remember that he/she had over 150 trees to take care of. If you blow them off for a month at a time, it would be quite a job to keep them all going! Newly planted trees need all the help they can get.
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