Physical Plant Works on Tree Planting Around Campus

Physical Plant employees have been busy planting trees around the UMass Amherst campus before the snow starts to fly. The trees are grown and maintained in the campus tree nursery, which specializes in unique trees not currently found on campus.

Six birch trees have been planted at the east entrance of McGuirk Stadium and one near Wilder Hall. Four ruby slipper maples were installed west of the Champion Center and they are continuing to plant as weather permits. Other trees being installed on campus are a hackberry, yellowwood and ruby ridge maple near the Faculty Club. A “Jade Prince” dawn redwood and a yellowwood tree have been planted at the Child Care Center. Children attending the center watched workers through a fence as they used a tree spade to pop the trees into the ground.

Image

The crew also coordinated with an alum from Hartney Greymont, a Boston area tree service, to decompact some soil around the 1900 class tree, which is a magnificent red oak just east of Bartlett Hall, and amended the soil with compost and biochar. They are also worked in the tree nursery with students to show the proper technique for installing ball and burlap around the root ball in order to transport a paperbark maple and a Dawn Redwood tree onto campus.