Despite the rain, dozens of volunteers planted trees this past Sunday during one of many tree planting events put on by Tree Davis. The event took place in the Sycamore neighborhood.
This event was the first of Tree Davis’ fall planting season. Five more planting sessions are scheduled between now and December.
A non-profit organization, Tree Davis was established in 1992 with the mission of teaching the community to plant and care for trees. Since then, the organization has planted over 8,000 trees in Davis, Woodland and Winters.
“Tree Davis seeks to engage our community in tree planting, care and maintenance,” said Missy Borel, Tree Davis board member. “Trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere, make our city beautiful, provide much-loved shade and even reduce crime rates. Trees give communities a sense of pride. More trees equals less crime.”
Tree Davis works to identify parts of the city that don’t have trees. The organization has planted in the downtown area, along Highway 113, in neighborhoods and in individual front yards. The trees are provided at no cost to the recipients.
Individuals wishing to have trees planted in their yards, or neighborhoods in general, can fill out a request form on the Tree Davis website. While anyone can make such a request, preference is given to areas of Davis that need shade trees the most.
“Tree planting sites are prioritized by need and chosen by the City Arborist,” Borel said.
Tree Davis is funded by grants, donations and memberships.
“We currently have grants from the City of Davis, CalFire and the Yocha Dehe Community Fund,” said Keren Costanzo, Tree Davis Executive Director.
Tree Davis also receives help from other organizations and clubs throughout the Davis community including the City of Davis Parks and Community Services Department, Tree Commission and Tree Maintenance Division.
Other community groups that support and help Tree Davis include the Yolo Basin Foundation, Davis Boy and Girl Scouts, Davis Rotary Club, Sigma Alpha Mu and local elementary, middle and high schools.
“Tree Davis volunteers have a great time first learning how to put trees in the ground correctly and then doing the work,” Borel said.
Today, Tree Davis will have a table at the Veteran’s Memorial Theatre at 203 E. 14th St. They will be giving a tree planting demonstration at 3 p.m. for those interested in learning how to plant their own trees at home.
ASHLEY NEWMAN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
Thank you for putting together an article about Tree Davis. There are a few important corrections – First, there will not be a planting demonstration today, November 10th. Tree Davis did conduct a planting demonstration at the Veterans Memorial Theater as part of the Cool Davis Celebration on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10). On that day, we officially launched our fall planting season. We have had five planting events so far, including the Sycamore neighborhood planting this past Sunday and a planting event in Downtown Davis on Saturday. For both events this past weekend, we partnered with the UC Davis Community Service Resource Center as part of their Weekend of Service. We are extremely grateful for the overwhelming support we receive from the UCD community. Thank you to everyone that came out for our plantings. We hope to see you at one of our upcoming planting events. Please visit http://www.treedavis.org for more information about our organization and volunteer opportunities.