50 Trees Planted in Richmond
We had a wonderful time recently planting trees with an amazing group of partners! We’re grateful to The CoStar Group for being the presenting sponsors of our fall “LOVE VA” campaign to encourage community beautification, litter prevention, and recycling activities in communities throughout the Commonwealth. In partnership with Capital Trees, the City of Richmond’s Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities (PRCF), and a whole lot of volunteers, we planted 50 trees at Canoe Run Park on the last Sunday in October!
Canoe Run Park is a 300-acre park located near West 22nd Street in South Richmond that opened in 1990. It offers many hiking trails, an open grass area for football and other games, a playground for small children, and a large oval jogging trail. One thing the park did not have is much shade near these areas, which could make the Vita course jogging trail (a fitness trail interspersed with exercise stations) stifling hot during the summer months.
That changed when a group of hard-working CoStar employees and other volunteers gathered to make a difference by planting shade trees – lots of trees! In consultation with Richmond city staff in Urban Forestry and PRCF, fifty trees were planted around the jogging trail. The trees include (by common name): black gum, river birch, swamp white oak, and pignut hickory. As they grow, these trees will build a shade canopy around the trail.
It was a warm and beautiful Autumn day when the large group of partners and volunteers gathered to kick off the event. CoStar’s Senior Vice President of Global Operations, Lisa Ruggles, spoke about their commitment to environmental projects and community engagement. We felt the passion and commitment of 37 CoStar employees who worked hard at the tree-planting event.
Shelly Barrick Parsons, Executive Director of the nonprofit Capital Trees welcomed everyone and invited remarks from Cristi Lawton, Executive Director of Keep Virginia Beautiful.
The group then split into teams that disbursed to designated areas around the oval jogging trail. Richmond Community ToolBank supplied wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, and other tools for the day. Each group was given safety information and a demonstration of proper tree planting techniques by staff members of the City of Richmond’s Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities. They were shown how to mix the soil and amendments in the hole and how to remove the trees roots from their containers and spread them out to provide a healthy system for nourishing the trees to maturity. They were given guidelines to plant the trees’ root ball at the proper depth, backfill the soil into the hole, and spread a layer of mulch away from the tree trunk.
In addition to the work being undertaken to plant the trees, Reforest Richmond representatives were there to give away tree seedlings as part of ArborDayRVA 2023!
CoStar volunteers will continue to observe and monitor the trees throughout the Winter to arrange for watering when appropriate, as well as any weeding or mulch replenishment that is needed. In Spring they plan to install “Tree Diapers” to keep the trees hydrated during the growing season. Proper planting and continued care will ensure the growth of these valuable trees, so that they will continue to provide shade and beauty to Canoe Run Park for many years!
“He that plants trees, loves others besides himself.” – Thomas Fuller