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Health & Fitness

View from the Village: Give a Tree a Break

Take care of your trees, they add beauty and value to your neighborhood.

Old Village started a tree-planting program about five years ago, where it has taken the profits from various activities and bought trees to line our streets.  You need to have those skinny young saplings before you can get those beautiful shady sunlight-dappled streets of old neighborhoods.  As we lose trees, we try to replace them to keep the neighborhood beautiful.  It seems one dies, then another, you don’t give it much thought, but soon there isn’t the shade and beauty trees give us.

It’s fall now, and we really notice the trees.  The Old Village Association has planted many of them. They are not large yet, but they will get there soon enough if we remember to take care of them.  The first year after a tree is planted is the most important; they need to be watered often to be sure they take hold of their new home.  If you have young trees in your yard or along your street, whether planted by the association or anyone else, take a little time to check on them. 

One of the biggest enemies of our trees are over active weed-whackers.  When weed-whipping, be sure to stay away from young trees. The thread cuts the bark all around the tree and the tree slowly dies.  If you see a small tree with weeds growing around the base, take a minute to pull them by hand, then no one will be tempted to whip around that tree. 

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Fall is an important time to keep watering the trees.  If it hasn’t rained recently, they really need a gallon or two of water at least every other day.  Old milk jugs or cat litter jugs make good cheap watering cans.  The trees will continue to need water until we get a hard frost and they can go dormant for the winter. 

If you’d like to get involved in the Old Village Association, it meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m., either upstairs at the , or at on Liberty Street in the game room.  The neighborhood will appreciate it!

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