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M/SUNNY Temp: 69 °F Wind: ESE at 5 mph Monday, September 29, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 27, 2003 Recently planted trees on West Jackson Street are showing signs of drought stress. Since budget cuts eliminated a citywide watering program for new trees, the city is relying on residents to give them a drink each week. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Cuts leave city trees dry The parks department trimmed its watering crew and now wants residents to help out By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Medford’s urban forest is turning brown. Recent budget cuts in the city’s parks department mean a loss of the watering crew for the city’s 267 street trees. The city has spent $68,000 to purchase and plant them in the last three years. So residents like Roxanne Womack are watering the trees themselves. "I don’t want it dying," said Womack, pointing to the maple tree that the city just planted in January in front of her house. Advertisement She said she and her husband, Claude, also water the tree in front of their neighbor’s house while they’re at it. The Womacks are among hundreds of residents being asked to give the new trees a weekly drenching after the Parks and Recreation Department cut about $44,000 per year from the street tree program to meet a tight city budget. Gwendolyn Scott, the parks tree program coordinator, said she learned several months ago about the department decision after planting was under way for 74 majesty sugar maples and chanticleer flowering pear trees along West Jackson Street. "If I had known in August ... that services were going to be frozen, I wouldn’t have ordered the trees," said Scott. So she’s been sending letters to residents asking them to help. In the past three years, trees have been planted along portions of Columbus Avenue, West Jackson Street, Black Oak Drive, Elm Street, Main Street, West Eighth Street, Crater Lake Avenue, South Holly Street and North Oakdale Avenue as part of the city’s program. Residents say even with the chore of watering, they’re glad to have the trees. "They give fabulous curb appeal," said Mary Wolgamott, who lives on Columbus Avenue. "I love the trees." She said the city planted four trees near her house about a year and a half ago. She doesn’t mind watering them, and the trees’ requirements are minimal. She said someone stole her watering bucket once, and she has to be closer to heavy traffic than she would like in order to water the trees, but she enjoys it. The city has been helpful in answering her questions, she said. "I was watering them every third day but Gwendolyn (Scott) told me only to water them once a week," she said. Parks Director Scott Archer said that almost $44,000 has been cut from the tree program’s budget but the change is not just budgetary. "Basically it’s a redirection of priorities," he said. He said there have been shifts made to provide pruning and maintenance for some of the older urban trees, which also need attention. Scott is encouraged by residents’ response to her plea. "Bless Jackson Street. I would say two-thirds are watering," she said. She acknowledges that many of the trees have brown leaves, but says the leaves will regenerate when the soil is watered. Ashley Wood, of West Jackson Street, said she’s outside with a hose every day watering her yard. She has a long hose and doesn’t mind watering the trees on her block even though they’re in front of her neighbors’ houses. "They make the streets prettier," Wood said of the trees. Scott recommends watering newly planted trees once a week for the first three summers. "Trees like to get a real soaking and dry out," she said. "If you keep it wet, you clog the soil’s air space." Womack is glad the trees were planted because they’ve transformed the busy city street. "They just make it look nicer," she said. "Not so bare." Tips on caring for newly planted urban trees Use at least 15 gallons of water once a week during the four hot summer months for the first three summers after a tree is planted. Use a five-gallon bucket with three or four nail holes in the bottom filled three times and placed near the tree trunk. Watering slowly and deeply once a week is better than a little bit every day. Remove the tree stakes and ties after the first year. Do not use ‘weed and feed’ fertilizer around the trees. Keep weeds, grass, flowers or other plants from growing in the mulch bed around the tree(s). Do not use a line trimmer or lawnmower near the trees to avoid damaging the trunk. Watch the trees and contact the parks department if there is a problem, 774-2400. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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