It looks a bit like a Charlie Brown christmas tree at the moment, but Vicki and I planted this year’s baby tree from the Seattle Trees For Neighborhoods program on December 9, 2020.

Its species is called Amur Maackia. The arborist with the program chose it for this location for multiple reasons, including its hardiness in not-great soil, its petite full height to avoid the power lines and solar panels, and its suitability for the sunlight conditions in this spot.

This planting is the beginning of a journey. For the next 5 years, we will receive email notifications with instructions like, “It’s Spring! Time to set up your baby tree’s watering bag and fill it twice a week.” Or, “It’s Fall and time to remove your baby tree’s watering bag and mulch for the winter, here are some tips and on good mulching practices…”

In order to be eligible to receive this tree, Vicki and I had to attend a seminar on how to plant and care for this tree. If you would like to see if you can view the recording of that seminar, feel free to try this link: Zoom recording of tree planting training session

This is just the first tree we’ve applied for, on behalf of our Peace Lutheran congregation, from the Trees For Neighborhoods Program, and it won’t be the last 🙂
Welcome to Peace, baby tree 🙂

(author: Dana Rice; written December 9, 2020)