It’s hard to lose a tree in your neighborhood – especially one that stands over the others carrying decades of history. It’s the trees that make our city’s outdoor spaces most enjoyable – offering shade, beauty, and important resources for birds and other wildlife. That’s why, when some of the city’s oldest, most valuable trees were lost in this summer’s big storm, we wanted to do something to help!
Here we share about our latest partnership with Keep Omaha Beautiful and offer tips for replacing a tree in your landscape.
Doing Our Part
In the couple of weeks following the storm that hit Omaha on Saturday, July 10th, 2021, for every tree sold here at Mulhall’s Garden + Home, we donated $10 to Keep Omaha Beautiful in support of the Trees for Omaha initiative. Now with over $4,100 toward the effort, that’s enough to support the supplies, labor, and other costs to plant roughly twenty additional trees in public parks and right-of-ways across our community – and maintain them during their critical first year of establishment.
Trees for Omaha
Originally launched in response to the destructive emerald ash borer, the Trees for Omaha program aims to plant several thousand trees across Omaha and improve the diversity and resiliency of the city’s tree canopy. With a palette including roughly twenty species native to the Great Plains, the diversity of plantings will help our urban forest better withstand a variety of threats – including future storm damage.
The Value of a Tree
We all know it inherently, and the evidence supports it – trees are a good thing for our community. Trees produce oxygen and improve air quality. They provide a beautiful view, reduce noise pollution, and create a comfortable place to gather with friends – all good ways to increase our emotional well-being. In addition to blocking the sun’s heating rays, trees have a natural way of cooling themselves and the air around them, benefiting nearby homes, people, and other plants. And native trees in particular offer critical resources for local wildlife.
As our friends at Keep Omaha Beautiful continue to effort to plant thousands of native trees in our public spaces, they’re bringing these and even more benefits to our entire community!
The Impact of Just 20 Trees
For the twenty additional trees that we’re helping to plant, Keep Omaha Beautiful estimates that over their lifetime, they’ll sequester 185,715 pounds of CO2, prevent 333,835 gallons of stormwater runoff, and remove 600 pounds of air pollutants. But this is only a fraction of the potential impact we can make when we all work together to support programs like Trees for Omaha and plant trees in our own outdoor spaces as well.
Tips for Replanting
If you’re looking for a new tree to plant, start by keeping a couple things in mind. First, consider your goals. Maybe you hope to shade your home, block a view, add spring color, or welcome more birds to your neighborhood. You’ll also want to think about the space itself, including how much area you have and the growing conditions – things like light, water, soil, and wind.
Then, start your search with trees that are native and therefore more durable in our area. You might also choose trees that can better resist storm damage – like bald cypress, swamp white oak, ironwood, redbud, or serviceberry. And if you’re planting multiple trees, go for a mix of different species to reduce your risk of loss to disease, pests, or other threats.
Let’s Replant Our City
We’re so proud to be a part of this community and help support the important work taking place through the Trees for Omaha program. Together, each of us can help build a healthier, more beautiful city. If you have any questions on how to do that right in your own backyard, stop in to talk with our team. We’re always here to help!
Photos by Keep Omaha Beautiful
