A wonderful mix of families, adults, teens and children came out on Sunday, October 16th to plant trees along White Lake Road near Eagle Road in Highland as part of the Faith in Action initiative at Highland United Methodist Church. Working with Jim Lloyd, President of the Highland Conservancy, Mary Lloyd of the Highland Beautification Committee, and many dedicated individuals from the church and community, we were able to plant white pine, red pine and other evergreen trees. Several years ago the area had become degraded when a developer bulldozed the area, sold off all the top soil and left the land to be overgrown with invasive weeds such as spotted knapweed, which makes the ground toxic to native growth.
Everyone pitched in digging holes, spreading organic mulch and planting trees to help in the effort to regenerate a healthy ecosystem in the area. Several people wondered why someone would strip off all the top soil and then leave the land covered in stone and sand, unable to sustain plants and animals that formerly flourished there? Good question! [But that is a fight for another day]. Kid's Church teacher Mary Lloyd helped the children learn the importance of planting a variety of trees and how we need to be good stewards of our planet. She showed them how to plant the trees and then we got to work.
Finally, we returned to re-mulch and spread wood chips around the evergreens that were planted several years ago in the same area. The only down note was that of the 2,500 acorns that we planted in 2009, less then 5% managed to sprout and grow into young saplings. (The biggest problem again has been the spotted knapweed that prevent the oaks from getting enough sunlight or nutrients to get a foothold.) The best news was that this time around, we planted much larger trees that Jim Lloyd had carefully nurtured and raised in large pots, allowing them to grow into 2 to 3 foot trees. Thanks to Jim and Mary for all their ongoing work mowing, weeding, watering and tending of the area.
A special thanks to all who turned out to make a difference!
Everyone pitched in digging holes, spreading organic mulch and planting trees to help in the effort to regenerate a healthy ecosystem in the area. Several people wondered why someone would strip off all the top soil and then leave the land covered in stone and sand, unable to sustain plants and animals that formerly flourished there? Good question! [But that is a fight for another day]. Kid's Church teacher Mary Lloyd helped the children learn the importance of planting a variety of trees and how we need to be good stewards of our planet. She showed them how to plant the trees and then we got to work.
Finally, we returned to re-mulch and spread wood chips around the evergreens that were planted several years ago in the same area. The only down note was that of the 2,500 acorns that we planted in 2009, less then 5% managed to sprout and grow into young saplings. (The biggest problem again has been the spotted knapweed that prevent the oaks from getting enough sunlight or nutrients to get a foothold.) The best news was that this time around, we planted much larger trees that Jim Lloyd had carefully nurtured and raised in large pots, allowing them to grow into 2 to 3 foot trees. Thanks to Jim and Mary for all their ongoing work mowing, weeding, watering and tending of the area.
A special thanks to all who turned out to make a difference!
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