Project Tree in Review
Alameda Backyard Growers launched Project Tree in late 2016, in collaboration with the Alameda Sun newspaper. Since then, the program has been instrumental in 83 trees bought from our local nurseries and planted in Alameda. About a hundred Alamedans have been instructed in the basics of tree care. Six fruit trees that were planted in Alameda Boys and Girls Club garden in late 2016 and early 2017 are thriving, and Project Tree continues to help care for them, teaching basic pruning to older children and coaching adult volunteers in more advanced pruning techniques.
Project Tree also ran Tree Care Workshops in 2019 and 2020, where attendees could learn how to properly plant and care for their newly-purchased trees, which they could purchase using a Project Tree $25 off coupon at Encinal Nursery or Ploughshares. These workshops, held at Rhythmix Cultural Works, proved quite popular and filled up quickly. To the delight of the attendees, both Encinal and Ploughshares nurseries gave presentations at the 2020 workshops.
Phase 2 – Completed!
Tree Project Report by Marla Koss, Thursday, July 25, 2019 in the Alameda Sun
The ongoing partner project between the Alameda Sun and Alameda Backyard Growers, Project Tree, now in its second phase, has continued to benefit Alameda residents interested in planting trees. The first phase in 2017 offered a limited variety of fruit or shade trees gratis. Phase two offered each Alameda resident who attended a tree-care workshop a coupon with a redemption value of $25 off the price of one tree at either of the town’s local nurseries. Both Encinal and Ploughshares nurseries agreed to take part in the program. Coupons were issued at Alameda Backyard Growers’ two workshops on Jan. 26 and March 3. The workshops ran for one-and-a-half hours and included a presentation and materials on choosing a tree, proper tree placement, planting and general care. The workshops drew at least 25 attendees each. Downloadable PDFs of the workshop materials are available for the community to reference. Topics include: choosing a fruit tree for an Alameda yard; fruit tree care; plants resistant or susceptible to oak root fungus; trees that do well in Alameda; tips for planting a tree and the tree owner’s manual. The reverse of the coupon laid out the restrictions and limitations. The value of coupons redeemed was an estimated $825; 33 (corrected from the Alameda Sun article) recipients redeemed their coupons. Both nurseries have been fully recompensed.
For more information email us at info@alamedabackyardgrowers.org with “Project Tree” in the subject line.
Thank you to the Alameda Sun for helping make this possible.
Phase 2 – Timeline
Our first Project Tree workshop this year took place on January 26, 2019.
Read the latest article in the Sun on Project Tree.
Our second workshop took place on Sunday, March 3, 2019 at Rhythmix Cultural Works.
Here are some articles that may help with your tree purchase:
Choosing a Fruit Tree for Your Alameda Yard
Plants Resistant or Susceptible to Oak Root Fungus
Phase 1
A longtime dream of Eric Kos of the Alameda Sun is came true in 2016. The Alameda Sun has funded a tree-planting effort here in Alameda, donating $1,000 to Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) in 2016-17 to fund a tree-planting effort hereby dubbed “Project Tree.”
Fruit tree recipients were required to:
- Live in the City of Alameda
- Have an adequate space for the tree planted in the ground (not container)
- Live in the home where the tree would be planted
- Attend an orientation on the proper care of their tree
- Care for the tree
In Phase I, Project Tree volunteers planted a total of 34 new trees in Alameda, including orange, fig, mandarin, apricot, plum and apple trees. Twenty-four families received trees, as well as the Alameda Girls and Boys Club and NEA CLC School.
Read more articles about Project Tree here.
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- Gretchen Doering, Alameda Boys and Girls Club Seed to Table Program Director smoothing the dirt under a Fuyu Persimmon tree donated by Tracy Wyman and David Wood.
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- John and Theresa Park having just finished planting a Purple-Leaf Plum (Prunus cerasifera Thundercloud).
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- Matthew Tisdale and one of his sons digging a hole to plant a Fuji Apple tree.
