Acknowledging that our urban community is significantly affected by air and light pollution, planting trees is an important solution in the restoration of the environmental balance our city. Through this project, our volunteers can offer services in order to contribute to the community while become educated about their surroundings.
Implementing connections with the organzation TreePeople and Huntington Park's Public Works, our members will collaborate with other individuals in order to plant the trees. Our members will apply skills and techniques to plant the trees on local city streets; this allows us to become acquainted with residents and hear some feedback. Our project is simply planting trees in the streets of our city. The process begins by introducing the process to our volunteers along with tool safety. The physical process of planting the trees commences by digging a hole twice as large as the nursery and securing that the hole meets the criteria for the tree. The tree is removed from the nursery and is placed in the middle of the hole; as the dirt is placed back inside and is patted down, the root flare is massaged and carefully planted. After securing the placement of a tree, a berm is constructed protecting tree and stakes are added to support the growth of the tree; the berm consists of mulch that maintains the water and resists other organisms. The berm is tested by pouring a bucket of water; the water should hit a smooth surface in order to break the fall and spread the water. Once the berm is tested, additional mulch is added and tightened, followed the pour of two more buckets of water. This tree planting allows our volunteers to interact with our community environment while developing communication and leadership skills.
