Two tree care workshops are scheduled for Friday, November 4th at the Finch Arboretum in Spokane. The topics to be covered are tree pruning and tree species selection for landscape and community use.
Linden Mead, Urban and Community Forestry Specialist with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, will instruct the pruning workshop in the morning session. This workshop covers tree biology fundamentals, the current industry standards for pruning, how to make pruning decisions, and how to develop an “eye” for identifying good branch structure in young trees. Tools and techniques will also be discussed briefly at the indoor session. During the follow-up outdoor session, participants will first observe a tree being pruned, and then have an opportunity to prune their own tree under supervision.
In the afternoon, tree species selection will be covered. Melissa Burtt, Landscape Designer with Pacific Design Center, will lead off this session with information on selecting the right tree for the right place and species information. As a landscape designer, she works for appropriate and pleasing composition of structure, color, and contrast in the landscape. The second portion of this workshop will be a panel of local urban and community foresters discussing what they consider to be their favorite and least favorite tree species for public tree settings. A lively discussion regarding selection and use of various species will follow.
These workshops are designed for anyone who supervises or performs any kind of turf or landscape maintenance activities. This includes in-house grounds maintenance crews, landscape and turf-care contractors, as well as volunteers who assist with maintaining church grounds, subdivision plantings, or any other community landscaping.
There is a $10 charge for each workshop to cover educational materials and snacks. The pre-registration deadline is November 2nd. Workshop and registration information can be obtained at www.communitycanopy.org or call the Coeur d’Alene Parks Department at 208/415-0415.
The workshops are sponsored by Community Canopy, a tree care partnership program of the cities of Post Falls, Hayden, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane, and the Spokane County Conservation District, in cooperation with the University of Idaho Extension and the Washington State University Extension.
