FOMT Busy with Spring Planting

Two weeks ago, the Friends of Manchester Trees (FOMT) planted 23 new tree saplings all around town.  For 50 years (2023 is our 50th anniversary as a local, all-volunteer non-profit organization) the group has been the main source of new tree plantings in Manchester.  The town budget does not include any funding for planting new trees, so the group relies on donations and volunteers to restore and enhance the tree canopy along streets, in parks and cemeteries. 

This year, trees were planted on Jeffrey’s Court and Friend, Pine, Brook, Beach, and Vine Streets, Jersey Lane, and Rosedale Extension.  The new trees in Rosedale Cemetery were funded by Community Preservation Act funds.  The effort started on April 21, when several FOMT members, Tom Henderson (Manchester Tree Warden), Sean Johnson (Manchester Dept. of Public Works), and the A&H Landscaping crew greeted a huge truck filled with healthy, young saplings at the DPW site on Pleasant Street.

In advance, George Smith, the FOMT planting chairman, submitted the list of trees and their proposed locations to DPW Director Chuck Dam for approval by his department and tree warden.  The A&H crew delivered the trees to various sites around town and beginning the planting process, which ran into Saturday.  George Smith, Tom Henderson, and Jody Morse, president of FOMT, followed the crew throughout town to check on the progress.  Every tree was carefully planted, and homeowners were provided a “How to Care for Your New Tree’ flyer, courtesy of the Friends.  One such homeowner is Elaine Champagne of Jeffrey Court.  She received a new Kousa Dogwood, the third tree planted on her street by the Friends since she and her husband, Dick Jewell, purchased their house in the 1990s.  This new Dogwood replaces several ailing Norway Maples that were removed last year.