Support community tree plantings and urban forestry this holiday season
Download the order form here or click on the tree above to order Holiday trees with your credit card.
Drought: Tree Watering Tips
June 8th, 2011 by karenjenkinsFrom UGA Chatham County Extension Agent David Linville:
We are in a serious drought. I have not had a drop of rain at my house in 6 weeks. I know some places got an inch or 2 a few days ago. I am getting phone calls about the leaves of trees and shrubs yellowing up and then dropping. This is a survival mechanism of the plants when they are without water. If this drought continues, I am afraid we are going to see a lot of dead trees and ornamentals next spring. Weakened trees and shrubs are also susceptible to beetle and bore damage. The plants no longer have the strength to protect themselves.
Tip #1. DO NOT FERTILIZE! Many people then put down fertilizer to help the plant and this is absolutely the wrong procedure. Fertilizer forces plants to grow which means the plant needs even more water.
Tip #2. I do not have an irrigation system but I am strongly suggesting you water your trees. Hook up the water sprinkler to your garden hose. I place the garden hose about 15 feet (give or take some) away from the tree and I let it water for 4 hours in a complete circle. You need to do a deep watering. This is not the time to be worried about your water bill. Taking down a dead tree can cost way over one thousand dollars. You want to put out more than one inch of water. Remember a 100 foot tall tree will send out roots 4-5 hundred feet from the trunk. A mature oak tree will use more than a thousand gallons of water on a hot day. Water your trees right or don’t water at all.
For more information from the UGA Extension Service, visit http://www.ugaextension.com/chatham/anr/CoastalHomeownerLandscapeTurfMonthlyUpdate.html
For more information on outdoor watering, visit http://www.gaepd.org/Documents/outdoorwatr.html
More watering tips from Friend of Trees in Portland, OR
Guide to Planting & Caring for Trees now available!
April 26th, 2011 by karenjenkinsSavannah Tree Foundation is pleased to announce that its new Guide to Planting & Caring for Trees in Coastal Georgia
is now available online and in print. For your printed copy please stop by the office at 3025 Bull Street. Be sure to send us your Tree Planting Pledge Form on page 23 of the guide and let us know where you have, or will, plant a tree. (Remember, November to March is the best time to plant trees in Coastal Georiga.)
- Savannah Tree Foundation Guide to Planting & Caring for Trees
Alternative Spring Break
March 21st, 2011 by karenjenkins
Savannah Tree Foundation had the luck of the Irish last week when a group of students from the University of Wisconsin chose to spend their spring break helping others in the south. On Wednesday morning, March 16th 40 UW students mulched over 100 trees on Tybee Island. Thank you!
Arbor Day Celebrations in Savannah
February 18th, 2011 by karenjenkins
STF Members planting trees in honor of Mary Helen Ray
There are many events in Savannah to celebrate Arbor Day.
Saturday morning in Forsyth Park there will be a tree planted in honor of Mary Helen Ray.
At 9am Saturday volunteers will be mulching trees at East Broad Street Elementary School; and over the weekend professional tree climbers will be competing in Forsyth Park.
Read the coverage on WTOC http://www.wtoc.com/global/story.asp?s=14056111.
Arbor Day, Friday, February 18th
February 3rd, 2011 by karenjenkins
Celebrate Georgia Arbor on Friday, February 18th by planting a tree or mulching an existing tree! Georgia Arbor Day is always celebrated on the third Friday in February, which is the perfect time of year to plant a tree. For information on planting the right tree in the right place go to the LEARN page, or join us on Saturday, February 19th at 9 a.m. to mulch trees at East Broard Street Elementary School.
Gift Of Trees
January 26th, 2011 by adminLooking for a great gift?
For any holiday or special occasion, give the gift of a lifetime and plant a tree while supporting the efforts of the Savannah Tree Foundation. Your $25 gift will fund the planting of a 15 gallon tree on public property. You can honor someone special , or commemorate the life of a loved one. Tree plantings occur in the late fall, winter and early spring. Individual trees are not designated with a plaque, but an acknowledgment is sent to someone you designate and gifts are listed in our annual newsletter and donor lists. The donor will receive cards that can be mailed or hand delivered to the recipient of the gift. These living tributes and memorials will contribute to the quality of life in our community for generations to come. Please note the average cost for STF to plant a tree is approximately $125. We accept a minimum donation of $25 per tree.
Complete the Online Form or call (912) 233-8733.
Forsyth Park Arboretum Dedication
November 14th, 2010 by admin
Diane Houston at aboretum dedication
Of the dozens of different tree species in Forsyth Park, the ginkgo is Diane Houston’s favorite.
The ginkgo isn’t native, the president of the Savannah Tree Foundation concedes a little regretfully, but the tree has a showy way of dropping nearly all its yellow fan-shaped leaves en masse in late fall to create a golden carpet below it.
Last year, Houston hurried home to get her camera the December day the ginkgo let loose its leaves.
“The whole ground was covered, the park bench was covered. It was a spectacular shot,” she said.
On Tuesday, that ginkgo and the 51 other species of trees scattered around the 12 northern acres of Forsyth Park were dedicated as an arboretum. City officials have been planning the arboretum for years – many of the trees are mature and have long sported ID tags – but waited until after the restoration of the Fort and construction of the bandstand were complete to make the living museum official.
The mayor and city council members unveiled an interpretive sign that tells the common and scientific names of each of the numbered trees in the park.
Some, like the live oak and magnolia under which the sign sits, are easy to pick out. But others, like the green ash and the fringeflower, need a key for all but dedicated arborists.
The Forsyth Arboretum is unusual in several ways, said David White, who heads the city’s Park and Tree Department.
“Usually arboreta are measured in the tens to hundreds of acres,” he said. “We have 12, and it’s in an accessible downtown location. It’s part of a multi-use public park. You don’t have to pay admission to appreciate it. Anyone can come any time.”
Savannah boasts a long history of being tree friendly, said Bill Haws, administrator of Park and Tree’s forestry division.
Along with Philadelphia it was among the first of American cities to organize its tree planting efforts along streets, parks and squares. The city’s Park and Tree Commission dates to 1896, a fact evident in the maturity of the city’s street trees.
The trees average about 2 feet around their trunks in Savannah, while most cities see more like 14-inch average girth on canopy trees, Haws said.
Diversity of those trees is a newer concern. In 1987, a tree survey showed that more than half the urban forest was made up of only five species. Since then there’s been a greater emphasis on getting more species planted.
The arboreteum provides an educational component geared to that diversity.
“This is a place where you can walk around and in half an hour point out 50-some species of trees,” said Houston, whose organization already sponsors popular tree walks in the park. “It’s wonderful.”
http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-11-10/forsyth-park-living-museum-dedicated
STF Announces New CommuniTrees Fund
September 30th, 2010 by adminThe Savannah Tree Foundation is happy to announce the availability of a small revolving fund called the CommuniTrees Fund, dedicated to helping community organizations purchase and plant canopy trees.
“Our new CommuniTrees fund helps answer the need for smaller tree plantings than we can typically accommodate,” stated Diane Houston, President of the Savannah Tree Foundation. Savannah Tree Foundation usually plants 50 or more trees per tree planting because the amount of planning required to carry out a large scale tree planting is relatively the same, whether planting 50 or 250 trees.
“We often get requests for one or two trees, sometimes four or five or ten trees, and this program was created for that reason,” said Houston.
The program commences in the Fall of 2010 with seed money from the Trustees Garden Club, and is replenished with donated funds given through Savannah Tree Foundation’s Holiday Plant a Tree program, which enables individuals and businesses to plant gift trees in honor of or in memory of someone special or to commemorate a special occasion.
The purpose of this program is to assist non-profit groups, neighborhood associations and other community organizations with small tree planting requests of 1-10 trees, on property that is held in trust for public use.
Program requirements include:
- Securing and documenting permission of property owners to plant trees on property.
- Provide a donation to STF toward the cost of trees. There is no minimum donation required.
- Pick up trees at a community volunteer tree plantings and participate in the tree planting if possible, to learn first hand how best to plant a tree.
- Plant the trees during tree planting season, which runs from November to February/March.
- Commit to watering and maintaining trees for 2 years.
Savannah Tree Foundation provides 15 gallon trees plus advice on siting trees, selecting species appropriate to a site, tree planting techniques, and ongoing maintenance. Guidelines and application forms are available online or by calling 912-233-TREE.
Welcome to our new website!
August 17th, 2010 by adminWe’ve developed quite an awesome website with the assistance of great folks from Southpoint Media, Brad Morrison and Lucas Karpiuk, along with Ariel Janzen of Bright White Space. They were a pleasure to work with and have been patient, easygoing and delightful partners in this process. Special appreciation also goes out to the Georgia Forestry Commission, which funded the website through its Urban & Community Forestry grant program.
Here you’ll find out what we’re up to, the latest and greatest information on trees in Savannah, and all the best of what we have to share. I hope you make regular visits and subscribe to our blog. If you have ideas or suggestions to improve the website or run across any bugs that need fixin’, kindly let us know. We’ve tested and re-tested everything for a pleasurable visitor experience, but in the off-chance we missed something … please let us know!