We’re Planting Trees again in May!

We’ve purchased the trees, we’ve purchased the tree tubes and stakes, and all we need now is a cadre of enthusiastic tree planting volunteers to help transition our at-risk black ash forest by planting 700 plugs and whips on Friday and Saturday, May 9th and 10th!

The tree species that have been planted so far include red oak, bur oak, swamp white oak, hackberry, black cherry, Ohio buckeye, and disease-resistant variety Princeton elm. This coming spring, swamp white oak, bur oak, and disease-resistant variety St Croix elm will be planted in wet areas, along with bitternut hickory in upland areas. Forest Service researchers recommended that we plant the four varieties of elm which they’ve determined have the best resistance to Dutch elm disease. We’ll plant the remaining two varieties in 2026 and 2027. South shore drainages were once populated with stately elm trees, and restoring them is an exciting prospect.

The Friends are pleased to report excellent survival success for the 450 trees planted in 2023 – 74%, despite a six-week period without rain following the plug planting. The survival rate for the 2024 planted trees will be assessed, and the results shared, in late summer 2025.

The Friends will underplant each spring for 5 years to convert the black ash-dominated forest, which is threatened by an EAB infestation, to stands of diverse tree species that are expected to fare well in a wetland environment as the climate warms. A healthy forest will continue to provide habitat for the hundreds of species of wildlife that currently call this wetland forest home.