A Thousand Leaves
Oct 7, 2009 by Ben Young, GeorgiaTrend
The University of Georgia is known for its tree canopy, but those trees took a beating from years of drought. Then hundreds were destroyed by an unusually heavy, wet snowfall last winter – but help is on the way.
Select Sustainable Tree Trust, created by grower Select Trees, has chosen the UGA campus to “re-green” to the tune of $1 million worth of trees – 300 plantings a year for the next 10 years – starting this fall. And these aren’t saplings – most range from four to six inches in trunk diameter and are 15 to 25 feet tall. Harvesting and planting them will be no picnic, but the payoff is critical.
“Trees are just about as important as buildings in terms of the atmosphere on campus,” says UGA Grounds Director Dexter Adams.
Select Trees is the largest grower of shade trees in the Southeast, and its stated goal is to eventually donate 12,000 sustainable trees, which in turn will reportedly create nearly $2 billion in environmental benefits.
“At first I thought their ‘sustainable trees’ was ‘greenwashing,’ where companies make bogus claims about environmental benefits,” Adams says.
“But it turns out they’re right. A lot of trees have short lives and tak a lot of maintenance. The species they are donating – mostly oaks – will be here for generations.”
Tagged: university of georgia, uga campus, regreening uga campus, select trees, select sustainable tree trust, sustainable trees, shade trees