Last month, the Lynchburg Tree Stewards, with help from the Central Virginia Master Naturalists and Citizens Climate Lobby, planted nearly 70 trees.

Planting trees is one of the best ways to help cool urban areas, sequester carbon and add beauty to our landscapes.

Fall is the best time to plant trees because without competition from leaves, all the tree's energy goes into establishing roots. Because this October was a month with no rain, we knew we would have a tough time digging in rock-hard soil.

Our first planting proved to be so. We needed pick axes to break up the ground at Ivy Creek Park, where volunteer Tree Stewards and Master Naturalists teamed up to plant 30 native trees. We planted swamp white oaks, loblolly pines and tulip poplars.

Urban Forester Nick Meyer, who oversees the work of the Tree Stewards, placed the trees along the paved walkway and near the playground to provide future shade for both.

Mercifully, a couple of rainfalls helped loosen the ground for the next two plantings in neighborhoods identified as heat islands. Money for those trees came from President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

Urban areas without trees can be 8 or more degrees hotter than those with trees, an increasingly alarming statistic as the planet heats up. Already scientists have declared 2024 the hottest year on record.

The first planting, on Fairview Avenue, proved to be much easier digging, and along with two members of Citizens Climate Lobby, Tree Stewards planted another 27 native trees, including Jefferson elm trees, which are resistant to Dutch elm disease.

Residents came out to thank us for their new street trees as we passed out fliers asking them to water the trees with two to three gallons per week. Trees need a lot of water to get established and survive the first year.

The third planting was on St. Augustine Street where Tree Stewards planted 12 okame cherry trees, but a couple of residents were less happy about our efforts. One said she wouldn't water trees because she has to pay for city water.

Another said she didn't want to rake leaves that would blow into her yard. We explained cherry leaves degrade quickly and are best left to enrich the soil. In our culture, however, too many people believe a perfectly manicured lawn is more important than healthy soil.

Tree Stewards educate folks on the importance of trees as we work in the community. We plant trees in the city rights of way and help the city maintain the trees by pruning them to keep them above people's heads on sidewalks and above large trucks and buses on the roads.

Last week, for example, we structure-pruned more than 100 trees in the new development off Elmwood Avenue. Pruning trees while young improves their longevity.

If you would like to join the Lynchburg Tree Stewards, the next training class is in January. The deadline is Dec. 13 and the application is at https://bit.ly/LTS2025application.

Planting and maintaining trees is sacred, and increasingly, vital work.

Shannon Brennan can be reached at [email protected].

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