GRANDVILLE, Mich. — The meteorological first day of spring was Saturday and that means it's time to start maintaining your trees. Thanks to a collaborative effort from the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, the Tree Amigos of Wyoming Tree Commission, and the Grandville Community Tree Project, attendees learned the basics of pruning in a two-hour class Saturday morning at the Kent District Library in Grandville.
Led by the director of forestry for the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks Becky Pobst, community members learned the best practices of pruning, which tools to use, and how to prevent diseases from spreading.
"It's one of my favorite classes to teach, and this is the best time of year to be doing it, because it's a great time to prune our trees. And we just want people to know how to prune and take care of their trees safely, especially at the right time of year," Pobst said. "The more we know about our trees on our property, the better we can take care of them, the healthier they're going to be, the more enjoyment we're going to get from them."
As a member of the Grandville Community Tree Project board, Kerry Riese took the class to learn more about the pruning process.
"I need to learn how to prune trees. First and foremost, because I have trees in my backyard. I live on wetlands as well. So, I want to make sure that, you know, I'm not killing anything in the wetlands," Riese said. "And I'm making sure that every tree I have on my property look good. It's always nice to have an attractive yard, and I like that."
Pobst said it's not just about the trees on your property, but the entire canopy in the community.
"Trees don't know boundaries. They are not paying attention to city lines or anything. So, this is a massive effort that we need to get everybody from every community involved in if we're going to take care of all of our trees," said Pobst.
Matthew Farris, a volunteer with the Tree Amigos, said it was a great refresher on the basics of pruning.
"I hope I learned a lot. I think a lot of it was foundational, at least from my perspective, having planted things for the last several years now, but it was really great to keep all that together," Farris said.
He said he appreciated the collaborative effort from the surrounding communities.
"Classes in collaboration is really important to reduce the barriers, reduce the barriers of entry for things. I think we all don't know what we don't know, and so kind of getting foundational knowledge of what's important, what's not important, realizing that you can do whatever you say you want to," added Farris.
Riese said it was a class he would take again.
"I learned a lot. And again, I think it's good to have good teachers, and she's very personable, and I think I would take any class that she provides, because it just helps me become a better arborist, if you will," Riese said.
He also said it's a good time to check out what the Grandville Community Tree Project has to offer.
"We got a big tree sale coming up. We're trying to get the word out to everybody. If you're taxpayer, Grandville taxpayer, they have trees that are on sale starting today. Pick your trees. And once you pick your tree, then you come in and order it, and it's 50% off. You pay 50%, the city pays 50%, so it's a win-win for everybody. And I think the canopy in Grandville is great, but we always want to maintain, so that's our intent," said Riese.
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