Tree’s Company

City, Students Plant

Tree For Arbor Day

In honor of Arbor Day, fourth graders from Riverside Elementary School joined Mayor Gary Herzig and other City of Oneonta officials to plant a birch tree on the lawn of the Swart Wilcox House this morning. Above, Yussef Pomero and Joe Jarmillo grab shovels and take their turn in helping to shovel the dirt around the 10 year-old tree that was supplied by Asbury Gardens. “This is the first birch tree we’ve planted in 32 years of planting.” said City Engineer Jim Hawver, ‘They are a nice hearty tree and we like to plant different types of trees in different locations so we have more of a variety.” Before the Mayor read an Arbor Day proclamation, the students spoke with the Mayor about the importance of having trees. “These are the young people who will take care of these trees.” said Herzig, “This is the first year the kids helped. We wanted them to understand the value of them. We walk down the street and see them all the time and we take them for granted. This is a chance to have them recognize how important they are and how to better care for them.” Afterwards, Craig Vollmer of FORECOM, right, gave a demonstration on inoculating Ash trees against the emerald ash borer, a small insect whose larvae has invested the trees since their first appearance in Detroit fifteen ago. “We are injecting the trees with an insecticide that is absorbed into the trees.” explained Vollmer. “The injection is good for about two to four years.and contains the best pesticide on the market. You can treat a tree several times for the same cost as it would take to remove an already infested tree.” The City has already made the investment to inoculate  87 other Ash trees throughout the city. “It’s better to be proactive that reactive.” said Hawver. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)