Replanting from the derecho has started for the Mount Vernon and Lisbon communities.
The City of Mount Vernon has received grants to replace trees that were damaged in the derecho with Alliant Energy and Trees Forever providing Branching Out Tree grants last year.
“The city has been waiting for tree removal work to be finished before we focused on replanting,” said Laura Eckles, city planner. “The replanting process for the city will begin this spring, with 50 trees to be planted in the southwest quadrant of Mount Vernon this year.”
If you are a homeowner who lost a tree in your right of way, and want to plant a replacement tree at your cost, that’s always an option.
Eckles said the important thing to remember when it comes to replanting a tree in the right of way is to make sure that the species of tree is not one of the prohibited trees to be planted in the community.
“Once you have determined the tree is not on the prohibited list, contact city hall to have a location for the tree to be approved, as well as make sure the species is approved as well,” Eckles said.
Just like with sidewalk work, contact Iowa One Call before you dig any hole.
According to Trees Forever’s planting guide, you should denote the location you plan on planting a tree after making sure it will not impact underground utilities and then draw a wide circle much wider than the container the tree came from. You should dig a hole no deeper than one foot. Remove the tree from its container. If it’s in a cloth grow bag, remove the bag free from the roots away from the bag. Locate the root flare of the tree you are planting (the root as big as a finger). Lower your tree into the hole to make sure it is the correct depth, with the root flare being at the ground level. If the tree sits too high, remove dirt until it sits low enough. Conversely, if the root sits below the shovel line, add more soil to bring it to the proper level.
Once the root flare is at soil level, begin filling in around the tree with the soil you removed in digging the hole.
Once half the soil has been replaced, pour one bucket of water on top to settle the soil.
Fill the rest of the hole with remaining soil and start to build a berm around the perimeter of the tree.
Take the sod and place it grass side down around the perimeter of the tree. Add a thick layer of mulch (roughly two inches to four inches) over the soil and sod.
Place a tree guard over the tree’s trunk and tie a bucker with a 1/8-inch hole drilled near the bottom to the tree. The small hole should point toward the trunk of the tree.
Pour a bucket of water into the bucket attached to your tree. New trees need five to 10 gallons of water a week for the first two years of their life.