Clear, 68° F
Josh Pomeroy crouched in the dirt Saturday morning with a group of Powell Boy Scouts, telling them the best method to get a roughly 12 foot tall boulevard linden shade tree into the ground outside …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
Josh Pomeroy crouched in the dirt Saturday morning with a group of Powell Boy Scouts, telling them the best method to get a roughly 12 foot tall boulevard linden shade tree into the ground outside the Homesteader Museum.
The crew was efficient — digging a hole so well it was actually too deep, and Pomeroy had the boys gradually add dirt to make sure the tree wasn’t buried too deep and make sure it was held up straight.
The linden was the first of five trees the group planted that morning. Adding to that, another five trees were being planted by a second group. Pomeroy, who started Homesteader Roots out of concern for an aging urban canopy, said the 10 trees are the most the organization’s volunteers have ever planted in one year.
All told, that’s 21 trees planted in the four years of the program, which subsidizes the cost of planting mature shade trees on the properties of private homes in Powell. there is a $50 charge for homeowners — a fraction of the cost for the tree, installation and maintenance for a year. The one planted at Homesteader Museum was unique for the program, however. Since the program is specifically for private individuals, the museum paid full price — $250 — for the tree, although volunteers from Homesteader Roots and the scouts still provided their work for free.
Pomeroy said the museum wants the tree especially for its Homesteader Day activities, as a way to provide some shade. He decided it’d be only right for Homesteader Roots to help the Homesteader Museum.
When the tree was planted, two T-posts were smoothly driven in to the top soil and the tree anchored to the pair to keep it growing straight. Then a sign identifying the organization that planted the tree was set in front.
After some quick souvenir photographs were taken, a scout leader told them the effort was one they’d always be able to see, and then they hurriedly left for another planting, trying to beat threatening rainclouds.
“We find Boy Scouts are pretty happy to dig holes,” Pomeroy said. “And they said they’d work, rain or shine.”
