Belgrade Parks And Recreation Staff Tour Townsend Trees
Author: Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
Patrick Plantenberg
Tree Board Chair
On May 8th, Montana Urban and Community Forestry Association (MUCFA) Chair and Townsend Tree Board Chair, Patrick Plantenberg, hosted the City of Belgrade Parks and Recreation staff in Townsend. Patrick presented a slide show on planting and pruning trees and shrubs.
Then the four-man crew toured the Tree Board nursery where they saw how Townsend cares for its new trees each year before planting them. At the nursery, they helped do some minimal pruning to establish central leaders and then potted five of Townsend’s trees. Then the crew toured the parks in Townsend, helped raise branches on two young trees, observed a tree in Holloway Park that needs tree support surgery, and looked at many other tree issues in Townsend.
Finally, the crew met at Patrick’s house where they were able to see how Townsend updates its tree inventory after each tree is planted or pruned. They also observed the spreadsheet kept by the Tree Board documenting the time and effort spent on tree care in Townsend.
This fall, MUCFA will sponsor a small and large tree pruning workshop in Belgrade for Belgrade and Manhattan City employees. This is part of MUCFA’s commitment to provide training for city parks employees in Montana.
Any questions, please call Patrick at 406-431-4615.
