BTF News

Benicia Tree Foundation sponsored Tree Care Days at Joe Henderson Elementary School on March 30 and April 6.  These tree care days included weeding and pruning trees that were planted by students at the school in 2012. 

The trees had grown to the point where structural pruning was needed.  Trees that grow to be large are more structurally sound and cost-effective to maintain when trained with a central dominant leader that extends into the crown.  Side branches should be staggered along the leader and trunk rather than clustered together.

Our Third Thursday Tree Care Day in March included two project sites.  Volunteers from Valero's Benicia refinery met at Benicia State Recreation Area to weed around 18 trees planted in 2014.  The group then moved across town to the Benicia National Guard Armory to weed and mulch 12 trees planted there in 2013.  Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch across the street at Francesca Terrace Park.

Valero employees stand behind a live oak sapling at Benicia State Recreation Area

As a Tree City USA, the City of Benicia has set April 27th as the date for the City's official Arbor Day Celebration.  Ten trees will be planted on Rose Drive beginning at 9 AM.  The Benicia Tree Foundation will assist the City by recruiting volunteers to help plant the trees.  Volunteers are asked to register prior to the event on the Benicia Tree Foundation website and to get further information on where to meet for the tree planting.  Tools, instructions, and refreshments will be provided.  

Members of the Benicia Tree Foundation Board of Directors attended the first City Council meeting of 2019 to announce the availability of the Foundation's Annual Report.  This report describes our accomplishments this past year and our goals for 2019.  You can view the file by clicking on the attachment below this photograph.

Benicia's Joe Henderson, Matthew Turner and Mary Farmar elementary schools held Fall Arbor Day tree planting events last week with the assistance of the Benicia Tree Foundation, to promote the importance of trees in our community and the need to plant the right tree in the right place.

Second Saturday Tree Care Day event was held at the Liberty High School project site on October 13th.  Volunteers removed weeds at the project site and were trained in basic tree pruning methods.  None of the trees at Liberty had been pruned since they were planted in 2014 and had outgrown their tree stakes.  Most all the tree stakes and some dead wood were removed - this was followed with some structural pruning to help them mature into strong healthy trees.  Below is a photo from this Tree Care Day.  The Benicia Tree Foundation has applied for a grant to plant tre

Twelve volunteers attend our first tree care day event of the new school year at Benicia High School on September 8th.  Ten of these volunteers are in the picture below.  About 70 trees were watered this day.  Later in the year, we will be putting tree cages around the trees after the first winter rains begin.  The tree cages will protect the tree saplings from the goats that control the weeds on the hillside above the upper parking lot.

If young trees are "trained" or pruned to promote good structure, they will likely remain servicable in the landscape for more years than trees that have not been so pruned, especially if the training is started early on.  Defects can be removed, a single, or dominant leader can be selected, and branches can be well spaced along the main trunk.

Fourteen volunteers joined Benicia Tree Foundation board members Alison Fleck and Steven Goetz for today's Tree Care Day at the Lake Herman Open Space project site.  The sky was sunny and the breeze kept our volunteers cool.  All 67 trees were watered and the last of our vole-proof tree cages were installed.