The rainy season means tree planting time for Canopy, a new tree nurturing organization based in Palo Alto.
The nonprofit group will begin the season this Saturday by planting 20 trees in the College Terrace neighborhood. The neighborhood is located between California Avenue and Stanford University on the west side of El Camino Real.
Last week, Canopy trained 10 people to supervise crews of volunteers to make sure trees are planted gently and correctly.
"It's all got to be extremely carefully done," said Canopy Executive Director Jeanne McDonnell.
Canopy has scheduled tree planting sessions for Nov. 9 and Dec. 14 in College Terrace and Jan. 11 and Feb. 8 in Greenmeadow. The group hopes to plant 100 trees in its first season, McDonnell said. There also will be a ceremonial planting of a tree to honor Mayor Lanie Wheeler on Dec. 7 in Greenmeadow, Wheeler's neighborhood.
Canopy chose those two neighborhoods because they wanted to make things easier during their first, learning year. Several dedicated Canopy volunteers live in College Terrace, so some residents already know about the program, McDonnell said. And Greenmeadow has a very strong neighborhood association and monthly newsletter, which made getting the word out easy, she said.
Several days before plantings, the group will hire someone with an auger to dig the holes. Volunteers will watch a demonstration planting before getting down to work. Work starts at 8:30 a.m. and lasts three or four hours. Canopy needs a ratio of one volunteer for every tree.
Volunteer tree ambassadors talk to residents in advance to find people who want a tree near their house and are willing to care for it.
Residents can choose from five kinds of trees that do well in various soil conditions and grow to different heights.
"Trees grow just lovely in the forest all by themselves, so people get the idea that it's that way. But a city puts all kinds of stress on a tree," McDonnell said.
The trees are planted on city owned property, either in a planting strip between the street and sidewalk or on the house side of a sidewalk. The city will supply the trees, and Canopy will get the needed permits and clearance from various utilities.
Encouraging people to volunteer, McDonnell said planting trees is "a community building activity. People feel very happy after planting a tree."
To volunteer, call Canopy at 964-6110.
--Heather Rock Woods
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