Later this year, local citizens will likely notice trees being cut down at Houston’s Emmett Kelly Park.
But not to worry, said city parks and recreation department director Jim Root, it’s all part of a planned upgrading of the park’s tree population.
When the project is complete sometime during the upcoming winter, 26 trees that are either dying of old age or have sustained wind or lightning damage will have been removed, many of which are leftover from days when the land the park occupies was a residential area and were planted as ornamental yard foliage. In their place –– and in other spaces now void of shade –– 55 new trees of varying native species will have been planted.
To get the project rolling, Missouri Department of Conservation representatives spent three days in early May studying the state of the park’s trees, and provided the City of Houston with a detailed evaluation their findings. The resulting report was submitted last week along with a detailed drawing of the planned improvement project in hopes of obtaining a “TRIM” grant (Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance) to provide funding. TRIM is a competitive cost-share tree care program administered by the MDC in cooperation with the Missouri Community Forest Council.
Should the grant be approved, Houston would receive close to $7,000 to purchase trees. Root said the city will know for sure in early August, but he’s confident the answer will be positive.
Downtown Houston, Inc. director of development Elaine Campbell said the total cost of the project would be in the neighborhood of $15,000 (including grounds crew labor, use of heavy equipment, mulching and other considerations), and expenses not covered by the grant would be paid by the city.
To comply with grant guidelines, new trees will not be small seedlings, but have “ball and burlap” roots with trunks about two inches in diameter.
“They have to be large trees,” Campbell said, “so they cost quite a bit, like $100 or $165 apiece.”
As part of the planning for the project, Houston solicited bids from four tree sources. The winner was Pea Ridge Forest, a wholesale nursery operation in Hermann.
If the grant should for some reason not be approved, a number of trees at the park will be removed anyway.
“Some of them will have to come out regardless of whether we get the grant or not,” Root said. “They’re getting to be a safety hazard, and safety is one of our main focuses in this whole idea.”
“Even if we don’t get the grant, at least we have a plan now,” Campbell said. “We know now where we could take a certain tree out and replace it with four if somebody wants to buy them for us. If somebody wanted to buy one tree, we know where it would go.”
In addition to safety, the project takes into consideration aspects of beautification and comfort. The end result will include shading of existing playground equipment that is now exposed to sunlight, and removal of a group of trees that block the view of the park from travelers coming into town from the north on U.S. 63.
And since new trees will be of varieties native to Missouri, they will be better able to withstand the area’s climate.
Texas County MDC agent Travis Mills has worked in an advisory capacity with the city, and will inspect planting results in the fall.
“They’ve done a good job of planning this right,” Mills said. “They’re fired up and ready to keep the trees watered and a few years down the road we should see some great results.”
Root said the removal of trees could begin as soon as August, if and when grant approval is received. Replacements and additions would then arrive by tractor-trailer in November, and planting would take place in earnest and be completed before winter sets in.
“It’s going to be a pretty lengthy job getting them all down and cleaned up and then preparing to plant new ones,” Root said. “One of our concerns is that when we start cutting trees, people might become pretty agitated. But for the livelihood of the park and of the trees in it, you’re better off to thin the old ones out. I think people will agree that this is really a good thing in the long run. Give it some time and the park will look real nice.”