BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington was Indiana’s first city to be named a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation, and received Tree City USA designation for the 39th consecutive year in 2023. Parks and Recreation’s urban forestry program is continuing its commitment to maintaining a healthy urban forest by preparing 90 empty street tree plots in downtown Bloomington to receive new trees this fall, and is identifying locations to plant additional trees throughout the city in 2024.
Existing 4′ x 4′ tree plots in the downtown area are being enlarged to 5′ x 5′ to accommodate new tree grates and to provide better growing space for downtown street trees. The downtown tree plantings are funded by the Bicentennial Trees and Trails bond awarded in 2018. Visit https://bloomington.in.gov/about/trees/bicentennial-bond-project to learn more about the 2018 Bicentennial Trees and Trails Bond.
Funding provided by the Bicentennial bond will also be used to replace trees in medians on West Third Street, West Second Street, College Mall Road and South Henderson Street. Adding 21 new trees in these areas promotes canopy growth and reduces heat islands, and contractors are expected to plant median trees as weather permits this fall.
The Bicentennial bond has already funded the planting of 265 street trees, for which the urban forestry staff has completed a six-month, post-planting inspection. Additional locations for new and replacement trees to be planted in 2024 are being identified now, with a goal of planting between 300 and 400 trees in public rights-of-way next year. Parks and Recreation will mail pre-planting surveys to owners of properties adjacent to the identified tree planting sites to gauge the interest of property owners in having a tree planted nearby on public property. Information collected will be used to enhance post-planting evaluations.
“An integral part of any urban forest management plan is an up-to-date inventory of street trees,” said Parks and Recreation Urban Forester Haskell Smith. To that end, contractor Davey Resource Group will begin a comprehensive update of the city’s street tree inventory with a re-inventory of 5,033 street trees this fall. According to Smith, the inventory will include data such as tree location, species, size, and condition. New information to be gathered includes details about the planting site and the tree’s primary maintenance needs, such as pruning or staking. Data is recorded in the city’s Treekeeper urban forest management software. To see live information about Bloomington’s public trees in the city’s Treekeeper online database, visit https://bloomingtonin.treekeepersoftware.com.
Smith said an additional goal for the urban forestry program is the continued, strategic removal of invasive Callery pears. So far this year, 65 Callery pears have been removed. Replacements for those removed trees will be planted in 2024.
For more information about Bloomington’s urban forest, about plans for celebrating the city’s 40th anniversary as a Tree City USA in 2024, or to request the planting of a street tree, visit Parks and Recreation’s urban forestry website at bloomington.in.gov/treecare or contact Haskell Smith at smithh@bloomington.in.gov.
