Four volunteer groups from the Collegedale community are giving their time to help plant and replace trees destroyed by the tornado that hit the area in the spring of 2020. Beginning Saturday, Dec. 5, the city’s Planning and Economic Development Department will be hosting small scale planting events with the local Girl Scout Troops, Eco Explorers, the 55+ Club and a small group of Greenbriar Cove residents.
Early this year, the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council announced that the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry selected Collegedale as one of its 2020 TAEP Community Tree Planting Recipients. The city received the nearly $3,000 grant through the Urban Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program.
The City of Collegedale originally planned to apply for the grant with the intention of adding more trees to the city’s tree canopy, but after the tornado hit the city in April of 2020, the focus quickly shifted toward tree replacement.
“The Planning department assessed the damage and found almost 60 trees damaged by the storm,” said Kelly Martin, planning and economic development director for Collegedale.
The city's application for the grant included 58 trees of carefully selected species to ensure that they would do well given their individual location. The Tennessee-grown trees were purchased from Black Fox Farm and will be delivered shortly before the community volunteer planting events. To ensure the safety of everyone involved, all planting events will be small (invitation only) and masks will be required.
Contact Kirsten Ert, Collegedale City planner, at kert@collegedaletn.gov for more information. For a more detailed overview of the grant project, go to Collegedale’s website at: https://bit.ly/3fpcWvy.