Casey Trees News April 2011

In this issue...2 Casey Trees celebrates Arbor Day With three tree planting events and Open House.

4 The volunteers of Casey Trees Citizen Forester spotlight: Ulrich Hewer.

6 Latest edition of i-Tree software New staff and the Spring Almanac.

7 Spring CTP update and schedule 367 trees in the ground, with 344 left to plant.

8 Donate for Arbor Day Spring programs and classes.

9 Kids Corner

Apply for Summer CrewApril is the last full month to apply for Casey Trees’ High School Summer Crew program. Washington, D.C.-area high school students 16 years and older can apply. The 2011 session runs from June 20 to August 12. Summer Crew members earn $9 an hour and work 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

Applications must be completed and submitted online in one sitting by May 1.

Casey Trees has developed a free online chat series open to

the public. The new series, called Tree Talk Thursdays, is a live Q&A forum to highlight issues affecting the District’s tree canopy and answer specific tree questions posed by the general public.

The chat series, hosted on Casey Trees’ website, will air on the second Thursday of every month from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST and kicks off with a discussion on how to properly select and plant trees on April 14. Elizabeth Philbrick, Manager of Frager’s Hardware Store’s Garden Center, will join Mike Galvin and Sara Turner, Casey Trees’ deputy director and urban forestry manager respectively, on the chat.

Individuals can participate in live sessions or replay past chats online. Questions are accepted prior to and during the chat session. To submit a question in advance or suggest a

topic, email us.

The spring/summer 2011 Tree Talk Thursdays schedule is:

April 14 — Prepping to Plant TreesShopping and planting smart. May 12 — Tree Report CardGrades are in. Reporting on how D.C. did.

June 9 — Certified ArboristsWhy you want one, where to find one.

July 14 — Summer Tree CareA tree survival guide.

August 11 — Trees of NoteDiscovering, appreciating notable trees in the D.C.

September 8 — Weathering StormsMinimizing damage to trees and property.

theleaflet

Casey Trees launching monthly online chat

In-kind DonationsCasey Trees would like to thank Starbucks Coffee Company for their in-kind donation of coffee and tea for

Community Tree Planting events. The caffeine is much appreciated on those early weekend mornings!

Thank you to Hunt Smith Design, which provided nearly $5,000 of design services for Casey Trees’ great new print products.

2 April 2011 | theleaflet

ARBORDAY2011

Arbor Day was conceived by Julius Sterling Morton, a journalist, politician, arborphile and

native of Michigan who moved to Nebraska and wanted to add trees to its open prairies. The first official celebration was in his adopted state in 1872 and, by the turn of the century, Arbor Day was legally recognized as a national holiday. Since then, thousands of individuals and groups have marked the occasion by planting trees in their communities, including Casey Trees.

Through its Community Tree Planting (CTP) program, Casey Trees will commemorate Arbor Day by planting 39 trees on April 30 at three locations in the District: Orr Elementary School, Congress Heights Community Park and Ballou Senior High School. Visit our calendar of events page to register to volunteer for these plantings.

Following the plantings Saturday morning, Casey Trees will host an Open House at its new headquarters in Brookland. Learn more on page 3.

April 29 is National Arbor Day. The District and 32 states will also have their own celebrations, occurring on various days in April.

theleaflet | April 2011 3

Casey Trees will celebrate Arbor Day on Saturday, April 30

with the official opening of its new headquarters at 3030 12th Street NE in Brookland.

The Casey Trees Open House is scheduled from noon to 5:00 p.m. and will feature family-friendly activities, program spotlights and demonstrations, building tours and neighborhood tree walks. Remarks from Casey Trees staff, members of the Board of Directors and officials from the District government will begin at 1:30 p.m. Because of the three planting events that morning, activities at the Tree

Casey Trees’ Open HouseYard will not begin until after 1:00 p.m.

Casey Trees staff will lead multiple presentations throughout the afternoon, including:

• Building Tours: 12:30, 1:00, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00

• Building Presentation: 4:30• Tree Walks: 2:15, 2:45, 3:15,

3:45, 4:15• Tree ID Presentation: 2:00, 2:30,

3:00, 3:30, 4:00, 4:30

Each Casey Trees program will have its own table. The Tree Planting and Planning & Design (P+D) departments will be outside, Education tables will

Bike Valet

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Casey Trees Open House

Tree IDPresentation

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BuildingTours

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RestroomsPedestrian RoutesFood & DiningStaff Assistance

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be set up both inside and outside and Geographic Resources will have computer stations inside.

Casey Trees will release the third annual Tree Report Card on Arbor Day. Electronic copies of the report will be on Casey Trees’ website and print versions will be available at the Open House.

Street parking and bike valet will be available. The building is a ten-minute walk from the Brookland-CUA Metrorail station and is accessible by the H8 Metrobus route.

R.s.v.p. today!

4 April 2011 | theleaflet

For one week beginning April 10, Casey Trees will join other

organizations across the county in celebrating National Volunteer Week.

Volunteers are essential to the success of Casey Trees and its programs. In 2010, 1,779 volunteers planted, pruned, watered and inventoried trees across the District, accounting for more than $105,000 in volunteer hours worked. New faces are showing up every weekend during this spring’s Community Tree Planting season. We hope they will become regular volunteers.

“At every Community Tree Planting, we tell our volunteers we couldn’t do it without them,” said Carol Herwig, volunteer coordinator. “We don’t say that just to be nice.”

Additionally, in February, Casey Trees graduated its 1,000th Citizen Forester (CF). The CF program, which started in 2002, trains volunteers on proper tree planting and care techniques and how to become urban forestry advocates.

Casey Trees has created an advertising campaign that will run during the recognized week in the City Paper, Express, Blade and others. The ads feature some of our CFs and thanks all of the volunteers that have helped us.

To register to volunteer, visit the Casey Trees calendar of events and select a date that works for you. To become a CF, you must enroll in one of three qualifying courses, which will be offered again this summer.

See our volunteers in action by checking out our Flickr page and the Casey Trees blog, Tree Speak.

Hundreds of volunteers have planted this spring at (clockwise from right): Fort Mahan

Park, Tait Triangle Park, Tait Triangle Park, Sherwood Recreation Center and at the

Embassy of Indonesia with Restore Mass Ave.

N AT I O N A L V O L U N T E E R W E E KCASEY TREES CELEBRATES

theleaflet | April 2011 5

its eagerness to educate the public on the benefits of urban forests and

the commitment to trees displayed by its staff and volunteers.

Hewer has volunteered in more than 150 planting events since 2003 and has been especially present at

Casey Trees’ school plantings.

One of the benefits of leading the school events, Hewer said, is witnessing the enthusiasm of children planting trees.

“Even if only a small fraction of them remembers and follows up on this experience in their later lives,” Hewer said, “it will be worth getting up early on Saturday mornings and suffering from a bad back once in a while.”

Citizen Forester spotlight: Ulrich Hewer

On a rainy Arbor Day several years ago, Citizen Forester

Ulrich Hewer planted trees along the Anacostia River. At the same planting, Hewer, a 30-year resident of the District, met fellow Citizen Forester Gregg Serenbetz, who told him about Casey Trees and our volunteer opportunities.

Hewer’s first volunteer role was helping with the second part of the District tree inventory in the summer of 2003. He was impressed by the organization,

“Our love of trees made me and the other Citizen Foresters want to get dirty and dig holes all over the city.”

N AT I O N A L V O L U N T E E R W E E KCASEY TREES CELEBRATES

6 April 2011 | theleaflet

The U.S. Forest Service and its partners, which include Casey

Trees, recently released the newest edition of their free i-Tree software suite.

The program is designed to quantify the benefits of trees and assist communities in gaining support and funding for the trees in their parks, schoolyards and neighborhoods.

“The goal of i-Tree is to put urban forest management tools into

the hands of professionals and laypersons alike so urban residents can benefit from abundant, healthy tree canopies,” said Mark Buscaino, executive director of Casey Trees. “Version 4.0 achieves that goal by allowing homeowners to virtually plant trees and watch the benefits accrue in real-time on their computer screen.”

Homeowners and educators will see more value and easier accessibility in the latest version. People can use i-Tree Design and its link to Google maps to see the impact of the trees in their yard, neighborhood and classrooms, and the potential benefits of adding new trees.

The new software also helps communities and managers lower the costs and time of analyzing the extent and

values of their tree canopy

New Staff MemberKatie HeffernanArborist-Auditorkheffernan@caseytrees.org202.349.1891

Katie comes to Casey Trees after designing, installing and maintaining small city gardens for the past few years. She has a graduate certificate in landscape design from George Washington University and earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing.

She is excited to put her experience to use while coordinating the RiverSmart Homes program.

Casey Trees' Spring Almanac offers great post-winter tips

Latest version of i-Tree software identifies the benefits of urban trees

Casey Trees partnered with the Forest Service, The Davey Tree Expert Company, the National Arbor Day Foundation, the Society of Municipal Arborists and the International Society of Arboriculture.

All of the software partners will offer free and easily accessible technical support with the new version.

On the first day of spring last month, Casey Trees published

its Spring Almanac. The Leaflet featured a teaser in the March issue, but here is the full list of suggestions. Make sure to:

• Install slow release watering bags around newly planted trees. Practice 25 to Stay Alive

by giving trees that have been in the ground less than three years 25 gallons of water a week.

• Remove winter weeds and emerging grasses from around the trunk base.

• Add trunk guards if lawn mowers or weed whackers will come near your trees. Consider deer guards for tender trunks.

• Mulch your trees to keep the soil moist and discourage summer weeds. Apply using the 3-3-3- rule - 3 inches of mulch in a 3 foot ring with a 3 inch space around the tree trunk. Keeping mulch away

from the trunk will prevent insects from damaging the trunk base.

• Inspect for dead or crossing branches. Damaged branches should be pruned carefully. Dead branches should be removed. For guidance, visit www.treesaregood.com.

• Appreciate your trees. Red maples and elms are blooming now. Serviceberry flower buds are emerging, and cherry and plum blossoms are due soon. Spring gives us a chance to take a closer look at the evolving leaf, flower and branch structure of trees.

theleaflet | April 2011 7

Record planting season running smoothly with 344 trees to go

If you are interested in volunteering, sign up here. Interested groups of five or more people should contact the Carol Herwig, volunteer coordinator, by email or at 202.349.1907. Most school plantings are not open to the public. Events highlighted in pink include cherry trees sponsored by the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Spring 2011 CTP Schedule

AprilDate Time Group RegistrationLocation Ward Trees1 9A - 1P The Catholic University of America 7th Street & Michigan Avenue NE 5 102 9A - 1P Woodland-Normanstone Neighborhood 3200 block of Woodland Drive NW 3 30 Association Centennial 4 10A - 2P Golden Triangle BID Foggy Bottom Metro Station 2 35 12:30P - 3:30P The Farm at Walker Jones 1125 New Jersey Avenue NW 6 156 1P - 4P Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys 3640 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE 8 106 1P - 4P THEARC 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE 8 107 10A - 1P Calvary Baptist Church 755 8th Street NW 2 87 9A - 1P Tudor Place Foundation 1644 31st Street NW 2 109 9A - 1P Columbia Heights Village Tenants Association 2800 14th Street NW 1 3013 10A - 12P St. Colleta of Greater Washington 1901 Independence Avenue SE 6 1013 12P - 3P Georgetown Visitation Prep School 1524 35th Street NW 2 1214 9A - 1P JC Nalle Elementary School 219 50th Street SE 7 1516 9A - 1P Turkey Thicket Recreation Center 10th Street & Michigan Avenue NE 5 2116 9A - 1P Michigan Park Citizens Association 18th Street/Michigan Avenue/ 5 15 Bunker Hill Road 20 9A - 1P St. Paul’s at Rock Creek Church Parish Webster Street & Rock Creek Road NW 4 2521 3P - 6P Metropolitan Branch Trail 3rd & R Streets NE 5 2522 9A - 1P David M. Stemper Memorial Rain Garden Half and L Streets SE 6 2022 4P - 6P 13th & C Street SE Community Park & Garden 13th & C Streets SE 6 623 9A - 1P Crestwood Citizens Association 18th & Shepherd Streets NW 4 3530 9A - 1P Orr Elementary School 2200 Minnesota Avenue SE 7 1530 9A - 1P Congress Heights Community Park Malcolm X Avenue & Parkland Place SE 8 1030 9A - 1P Ballou Senior High School 3401 4th Street SE 8 14

May7 9A - 1P Alice Deal Middle School 3815 Fort Drive SW 3 35

Casey Trees’ record-breaking spring Community Tree Planting

(CTP) season had a successful March and will continue into May with the final planting at Alice Deal Middle School.

The season started off on March 5 at The Catholic University of America’s Raymond A. DuFour Center. Lead Citizen Foresters (CF) led planting groups of new CFs, who had just completed the CF-qualifying Tree Planting class. New university president John Garvey showed up and helped to plant a tree.

A week later, 26 Peace Corps staff and returned volunteers joined the planting at Fort Mahan Park on March 12. The Washington, D.C.-area Peace Corps group helped plant trees to commemorate the organization’s 50th anniversary.

Casey Trees planted National Cherry Blossom Festival-sponsored cherry trees at four events in March. There will be four more plantings with NCBF-sponsored cherry trees in Wards 2, 5, 7 and 8.

There were 13 planting events on

More than 60 volunteers planted 26 trees at Fort Mahan Park on March 12.

school campuses last month, with seven more left on the schedule.

Invasive Training Mary Farrah, DC Cooperative Extension Service -and- Ken Ferebee, Natural Resource Management Specialist, Rock Creek National ParkThu., May 19, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Sat., May 21, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.Classroom Session Field SessionCasey Trees Headquarters Rock Creek Park3030 12th Street NE

Learn about non-native plants and how they are threatening our native landscapes. Participants will learn how to identify and control nine species of invasive plants found in the Washington, D.C. area. The classroom session will take place Thursday, with a field component the following Saturday.8 April 2011 | theleaflet

Programs and classes

Tree WalksLincoln Cottage and Rock Creek CemeteryMelanie Choukas-Bradley, Author of City of TreesSat., April 16, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.Intersection of Rock Creek Church Road NW and Upshur Street NW

Choukas-Bradley will lead a walk at President Lincoln's Civil War-era summer home and then explore historic trees at Rock Creek Cemetery.

Visit the Casey Trees Calendar of Events page to sign up for our spring tree walks and invasive species class. Those interested in the U.S. National Arboretum walks must register on their website.

Advance registration is required; space is limited.

Shade Trees of D.C. Casey Trees StaffSat., May 14, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.U.S. National Arboretum

Get to know some of the key representatives of D.C.’s urban forest. We will focus on larger trees found in our parks, streets and home landscapes.

Ornamental Trees Casey Trees StaffSat., April 23, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.U.S. National Arboretum

Take a walk through the Arboretum’s dogwood, magnolia and Asian tree collections to see what flowering options are offered.

With Arbor Day at the end of the month, we hope you

will celebrate by joining our Tree Champion Monthly Giving program.

Giving through our Tree Champion Monthly Giving Program provides Casey Trees with an on-going, reliable source of funding for our tree planting, education and advocacy programs. It’s green, flexible and hassle-free.

It doesn’t take much to make a real and lasting difference:

• A monthly pledge of $25 provides a dozen newly planted trees with a slow release watering bag, mulch and protective trunk guard.

• A larger pledge of $50 per month sponsors a High School Summer Crew team member to water, weed and mulch trees for one week.

• A more generous pledge of $100 per month allows us to purchase a dozen 15-foot-tall, 200-pound trees to plant in the District.

You choose your gift amount, starting at just $10 a month — less than 50¢ a day. Every dollar you give helps. Adjust your donation or cancel any time. Donations of any amount are welcome and can be made online, by mail or over the phone at 202.349.1984.

Visit our new donations page for more information on how to donate, sponsorship opportunities and workplace giving.

All Classes

Are

FREE!

TREE WALK IS FULL

theleaflet | April 2011 9

Kids Corner

Try your hand at getting through this tree’s canopy down to its trunk!

Leafy Labyrinth