PROVIDENCE, RI, May 19, 2023 — Rhode Island Tree Council (RI Tree) recently held this year’s Arbor Day celebration at Miantonomi Park, Hillside Avenue, Newport, RI. The city of Newport hosted the event, the Newport Tree Conservancy, and the Newport Tree and Open Space Commission. The event’s primary sponsor was the Rhode Island Energy Corporation, PPL. The event’s secondary sponsors were the Rhode Island Tree Council and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.  

As part of the day’s ceremonies, Governor Dan McKee read the official state Arbor Day proclamation, with Newport’s mayor, Xaykham-u’Xay-Khamsyvoravong, in attendance. Doris Alberg, RI Tree chairperson, presented sponsors awards to Rhode Island Energy and hosts awards to the city of Newport Tree and Open Space Commission and Newport Tree Conservancy. Terry Gray, Director of RI DEM, and Lou Allard, Urban, and Community Forestry Program, co-presented the 2022 Tree City USA award to the following cities.

Barrington (5 years), Bristol (22 years), Central Falls (8 years), East Providence (29 years)

Jamestown (21 years), Middletown (5 years), Narraganset (12 years), Newport (32 years), Pawtucket (17 years), Portsmouth (17 years), Warren (21 years), and Warwick (23 years).  Providence (37 years) was the Growth Award Recipient. Johnson & Wales University and Salve Regina University received this year’s R.I Tree Campus Higher Education award.

Students from the first-grade class of the Chairborne Pell Elementary School displayed their tree crafts. RI Tree also planted five Arbor Day trees, including the Arbor Day ceremonial red oak at the park. RI Tree also planted the Scarlet Oak, Greensleeves Dogwood, and Sugar Maple trees at the park.

Rhode Island has had a long history with Arbor Day. According to the RI Department of Education records, the first event held in Rhode Island to honor trees occurred on April 29, 1886. Sponsored by the Barrington Rural Improvement Society, the ceremony took place on public land near the railroad station in West Barrington. 

Assisted by Society members, school children planted an American elm and dedicated it to the memory of the 16^th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Many more would follow. In 1892, the RI Department of Education initiated an Arbor Day Program for school children to be held in the spring of each year over the next five decades (ending 1939).

Spring is a great time to plant new trees. The cool weather enables trees to establish roots before the summer heat stimulates new top growth. While you can plant healthy balled and burlapped (or container) trees throughout the growing season, you must provide good care for them to take root and grow. Make sure you have enough water to help them grow and, make that you locate all underground utilities before digging.

How well a new tree grows after planting, however, depends primarily on four things:

• Type of tree selected
• Planting location
• Care provided during planting
• Follow-up care after planting 

Attending to these factors conscientiously eliminates plant stress. You may need to prune a new tree after planting, however. If you do, prune sparingly. You can do corrective pruning after the tree experiences a full year’s growth.

The International Society of Arboriculture recommends the following nine steps when planting a new tree:

1. Identify the trunk flare at the bottom of the tree’s base. Make sure it’s visible after planting.
2. Dig a shallow broad planting hole about two times larger than the root ball.
3. Remove the containers or cut away the wire basket.
4. Place the tree at the proper height. Lift the tree by the root ball when placing it in the hole.
5. Straighten the tree in the hole. Once planted, a tree is difficult to reposition.
6. Fill the hole gently but firmly. Water periodically by backfilling, and avoid fertilization at this time.
7. Stake the tree only when planting bare root stock or when planting at windy sites. Remove after a year of growth.
8. Mulch the tree’s base. Mulch helps holds moisture, moderates soil temperature extremes, and reduces grass and weed competition. Avoid filling in mulch to the tree’s base.
9. Provide follow-up care. Keep the soil moist but not water-logged. Water once a week, barring rain. Water more frequently during hot, windy weather.

Best Spring Flowering Trees to Plant

Below are four of the best spring-flowering trees to plant in Rhode Island.

·         Flowering Cherry 

These trees come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Many varieties bloom in springtime and last for several weeks. Cherry trees work well in residential gardens because they require minimal care. All are beautiful. Distinguishing characteristics include the number of petals, the color of the blossoms, and their fragrances, leaves, and blooming season. Flowering cherry trees perform best in full sun in moist, relatively well-drained soils. Watch for caterpillars, leaf-mining moths, bacterial cancer, and blossom wilt.

·         Magnolias 

Like the cherry tree, the magnolia tree is best known for its flowers. Among the first trees to bloom in the spring, magnolia trees have large flowers and a sweet, heady fragrance. Their tulip- or star-shaped flowers are often as large as saucers when fully opened. The tree’s foliage and fruit are also attractive. Magnolia trees come in several varieties, are long-lived, and are easy to plant. The best time to plant them from seeds is in the spring. These hardy trees need suitable soil, light, water, and feeding to thrive.

·         Dogwood  

These woodland trees appear in various forms around the U.S., giving us a beautiful and elegant spring spectacle. A good choice in New England, where it’s cooler, is the Pagoda Dogwood. These trees have wide graceful branches growing horizontally into layers, each featuring white flowers in late spring. In partially-shaded gardens, the dogwood’s whiteness makes a stunning show. Unfortunately, a severe disease affecting all types of dogwood is anthracnose. A fungus known as Discular Destructiva is also a severe threat.

·         Crabapple

The flowering crabapple tree is among the most prized of all spring-flowering trees. They’re a staple of landscape gardening.  Known for their spectacular display of magnificent blossoms and colorful fruit in the fall, these trees bloom for four-to-five weeks in mid-spring. The combination of rich red buds opening to pure white blossoms pumps up a floral display’s beauty. Unfortunately, crabapple trees in New England are susceptible to four significant diseases—apple scab, fireblight, cedar-apple rust, and powdery mildew.

Buying a new tree and planting it is a good investment. It offers a wide range of benefits, including boosting the value of your property by about 7%. In affluent areas, trees can boost the value of a home by as much as 10-15%. However, how well a tree does depends on the tree selected, where you plant it, the care you provide during planting, and the follow-up care you offer.

Contact RI Tree for more tips on planting a new tree or for a copy of the International Society of Arboriculture’s brochure on New Tree Planting.

John Campanini is the technical director of the Rhode Island Tree Council (RI Tree). A University of Rhode Island graduate, he was City Forester for Providence for over twenty years before retiring.

by

John Campanini

Christmas is a great time of the year. But when all is said and done, you’re often left with a full-sized tree in your living room. If you have a real tree, you can always put it out on the curb. Fortunately, many Rhode Island communities have programs designed to help you dispose of Christmas trees with a minimum of fuss.

But you also have several alternatives to putting your tree on the curb. Many of these are environmentally friendly and make great use of your tree. One little used way, for example, is to replant your tree in your backyard. Doing that is great way of retaining the fond memories of a holiday season.

Replanting Ball and Burlap Trees

You can replant balled and burlap Christmas trees. If this is your goal, consider buying a small live ball and burlap tree. Small live trees survive the transition from outdoors to indoors to outdoors better than large trees. Here are several tips on replanting a Christmas tree:

• Dig a hole for the tree as soon as you can. That will help the tree’s chances of survival. If you wait until Christmas is over, the ground may be frozen.

• Indoor conditions put trees at risk. So, keep the tree indoors for no longer than a week or a week and a half. Keeping it longer reduces its chances of surviving outdoors.

• Keep the tree in a cold sheltered place. The tree has been harvested in the cold, so it’s already gone dormant. You want to keep it in this state before you replant it.

• Place the tree in a draft-free location and away from heaters and vents. Wrap the root ball in plastic or wet sphagnum moss.

• Keep the root ball damp in the house. It needs to stay damp as long as it’s in the house. You can use ice cubes or daily watering to keep the ball moist.

• Take off the burlap bag and other coverings on the root ball first. Then place the Christmas tree in the hole and backfill the hole.

• Cover the hole with several inches (5 to 10 cm.) of mulch and water the tree. Here are some tips mulching a tree. Fertilize the tree in the spring.

Now you’ve replanted your Christmas tree. It’s a great way of keeping the memories of the holiday season in your backyard if you have the space to do it.

Recycling Your Trunk-Cut Christmas Tree

You can’t replant a trunk-cut Christmas tree. Once the tree is separated from its roots, that’s it. You can replant it but you can do other things with it. Below we give you several alternatives to putting your tree out on the curb when it’s time to dispose of your tree. Make sure you remove all the lights, ornaments, and tinsel beforehand.

1. Donate to habitat and restoration projects
2. Create a backyard bird sanctuary
3. Recycle the tree and for wood chips/mulch
4. Use it locally for erosion control
5. Remove branches and use them for pathway edging
6. Remove plants and use them to protect delicate plants
7. Take small branches and add to a mulch pile

You can also use the tree for a fish habitat. Small fish can lay eggs in them. Trees last about eight years in water. But get permission from your local authorities before dropping the tree in a lake or pond. Some municipalities create fish-friendly habitats with Christmas trees. Too many submerged trees, however, can cause problems.

Go to the Pick Your Own Christmas Tree website for more ways to recycle Christmas trees in Rhode Island. Or contact RI Tree at ritree@ritree.org. You can also call the office at 401-764-5885.

John Campanini is the technical director of the Rhode Island Tree Council (RI Tree). A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he was city forester for Providence for more than twenty years before retiring.

Buying the perfect Christmas tree is a challenge—no doubt about it. Keeping your tree fresh during Christmas is just as challenging, if not more so. But thanks to this summer’s increased dryness, keeping this year’s tree fresh will be more challenging. The dryness affected the quality and life span of this year’s Christmas trees. So, you’ll have to go to greater lengths this year to keep your tree fresh than you did last year:

Ideally, you’ll want to buy a suitable stand for the tree you buy. Look for a stand that holds at least a gallon of plain water. You’ll spend less time filling up the stand and more time enjoying your tree. If you have a tall, wide room, pick a stand that fits the tree’s size. If you’re putting your tree on a table, choose a small stand with a good-sized reservoir. Also, get an adjustable stand. It makes leveling the tree easier.

Tips on Keeping Your Tree Fresh

Here are nine tips on keeping your Christmas tree fresh:

• Cut about half an inch more off the tree’s trunk. That exposes the tree’s vessel, enabling the tree to absorb water easier.

• Avoid cutting the trunk at an angle or into a V-shape. That makes it harder to keep the tree in the stand and reduces the amount of water available to the tree. Also, avoid bruising the cut surface or getting it dirty.

• Keep the outer layers of wood on the tree. That speeds up the intake of water after you cut the tree.

• Put your tree in a stand with water immediately after cutting the tree. Keep the stand filled with water throughout the season. Check on water levels twice daily for the first week and then daily.

• Use a stand with a traditional reservoir type. It’s among the most effective ways to maintain freshness and minimize needle loss problems.

• Check out the devices available to help you maintain a constant water level in the stand. They work. Use them if you can.

• Checking the temperature of the water isn’t necessary. The temperature doesn’t affect water uptake or the tree’s freshness. Use plain water.

• Avoid putting the tree near heat sources like air vents, fireplaces, wood stoves, and sunny windows. That dries out the tree quickly.

• Using lights that emit low heat, such as miniature lights, reduces drying and keeps the tree fresh.

Consider acclimating your tree before bringing it into your home. Going from a cold outdoor environment to a heated indoor can stress out a tree. So, you can store the tree in an unheated area, like your garage or basement, for a day or two before bringing it inside. Also, avoid using preservatives and other additives in the water. They won’t extend the life of your Christmas tree.

Take a second to picture a tree that you love – maybe it’s the big oak in your backyard, the street tree in front of your house, or the new ornamental tree that you just planted in your garden. You probably will do (a number of things²) several things to care for your tree – water it while it’s young or during a period of drought, mulch it in the springtime, or get it professionally pruned as it matures. 

You might also do some things to mitigate harm to the above-ground portions of the tree, like ask a builder not to hit the trunk or branches during a home renovation project. However, we generally don’t consider the potentially harmful effects of our every-day behavior on the health of our beloved trees, and consequently, fail to implement a few simple, but high-impact solutions.

Interacting with Our Trees

Let’s take those three hypothetical trees mentioned above. Maybe you picnic around that big oak in your backyard or dash underneath the canopy when it starts to rain. Maybe you walk across the sidewalk tree well in which your street tree is planted, while being careful not to hit the trunk as you open your car door. Maybe you water your ornamental tree, and then walk about the garden pulling weeds and tending to other plants.

These are all wonderful ways to interact with the trees at home or in our communities but walking repeatedly across the soil that’s covering tree roots (particularly when the soil is wet) is not one of them³.  This causes the soil to compact, squeezing out of it the water and oxygen  essential for healthy plant growth.

Water is an obvious plant requirement, but oxygen is just as necessary below ground as it is above. Without soil oxygen, the tree’s vascular systems cannot properly function and roots are unable to absorb water. There also are microbes and organisms underground that are beneficial to tree survival and need oxygen as well.

Spike Aeration Boosts Tree Health

Here at RI Tree Council, we (definitely) don’t want you to stop picnicking under your tree or wandering around your garden – and the good news is, you don’t have to! Here are some tips (and tricks) to perform soil aeration (the practice of loosening soil to create pathways between soil particles) so that you can keep your beloved trees healthy for years to come.

Spike aeration is the easiest way for home gardeners to aerate their soil on their own! Grab a spikey tool, like a hand cultivator, metal rake, or pitchfork and puncture the soil in a broad area all around your tree. This will allow it to become more porous so oxygen can access the roots and water can drain more readily through the soil. Be careful not to stab surface roots with your tool!

Aerate around your trees once or twice a year, in the spring and/or fall, and always follow-up with mulch (find a great video on how to properly mulch HERE). For mature trees that are starting to show their age, it might be best to aerate the soil, mulch a large area around the base, and then try your best to walk over the roots as little as possible. Mature trees tend to be even more vulnerable to soil compaction.

Lastly – be aware that a healthy-looking tree is not an indication that your soil is fine! The negative impacts of soil compaction might not become visible in the canopy for (a number of growing seasons) many years. Be proactive and build aeration into your annual tree care routine.

Want more tips about keeping your trees healthy, or planning for the installation of new woody plants? Check out RI Tree Council’s other articles on tree care HERE, or sign up for the next Tree Stewards course!

The 2022 Fall Tree Stewards Course held its Skills Workshop on the grounds of the Mohr Public Library, Johnston, RI on Saturday, October 22.  At the workshop, the students planted trees and shrubs.  They also performed routine and remedial pruning on small saplings and groupings of rhododendron and hydrangea growing at the library.  The class ended with each student demonstrating the proper way to obtain a soil sample for soil testing. 

The second classroom lecture of the 2022 Tree Stewards Course took place on Tuesday evening, October 11 at the Mohr Library, Johnston, RI.  Soil Management was the topic.   Students learned about the important physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil.  They were also instructed on how to take a proper soil sample, interpret soil test results, and implement test recommendations.  Next week’s class will focus on tree and shrubbery pruning. 

RITree’s Instructor Craig Hotchkiss explains Soil pH and its importance in maintaining healthy soils.