Mentelle neighbors work together to bring a number of new trees to their street
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Strolling through the four medians that split Mentelle Park, Sarah Hall sounds like a professional arborist as she identifies and discusses dozens of varieties of trees and their unique foliage.
She also knows the stories of how many of the trees came to be planted along the medians, like a decades-old pine that was planted as a Christmas gift from a husband to his wife many, many years ago, but at this moment, the story of 11 young, new specimens is fresh on her mind.
The new trees, which were installed in October, are the result of an ambitious, and laborious, project between the city and residents of the Mentelle neighborhood which began two years ago.
When Hall moved to the street a few years ago, she became interested in the immediate neighborhood’s history, rifling through past printed material in libraries’ collections. One pamphlet advertised the neighborhood as an ideal place to live and remarked on the street’s “shade,” “tall, massive trees” and “sylvan” sensibilities. Hall looked out her window and saw many fine trees, but also a lot of dead or dying trees, as well as a nearly impenetrable tangle of shrubs.
“When I came here three years ago, I felt the street was neglected, especially the medians,” Hall said. “There were many, many overgrown shrubs; huge honeysuckle that you couldn’t even see through.”
Other historic material, especially old photographs, further instilled in Hall a desire to restore the lush luster of the street’s medians, so she joined the neighborhood association and tenderly began trying to build consensus and enthusiasm among her neighbors to rethink the medians and give them a dramatic facelift.
“I didn’t want to be the new person on the block who was coming in here trying to do all this,” she said, adding that people were receptive to the idea.
With the neighborhood association, Hall chaired the Mentelle Medians Improvement Project, and in November of 2010, the city awarded the initiative an LFUCG Neighborhood Action Match Grant of $4,540. Hall and other neighbors, working with Tim Queary – an urban forester with the city – devised a decorative design for an assortment of new trees, as well as specialized landscaped areas.
The improvement project dictated that a variety of trees should be planted that would have unique characteristics throughout the year. Some of the new varieties include Elizabeth Magnolia, Englemann spruce, Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple, tulip poplar, forest pansy, Japanese Snowbell, foster holly and October Glory maple.
“The concept behind the plan was low maintenance, grows quickly, and color all four season,” Hall said.
Given that many of the medians’ large Pin oak trees had to be removed by the city for safety concerns, as well as some ash trees due to being susceptible to the emerald ash borer, the tree loss gave the improvement project more impetus throughout the neighborhood, and in the summer of 2011 lots of residents banded together to clear the medians and organizers were able to collect nearly $2,300 in donations toward the project from neighbors. Neighborhood kids helped with the fundraising by hosting a lemonade stand on the street.
“They raised $130 with a lemonade stand,” Hall said. “We’re really proud of the fact that our neighborhood kids understand community spirit.”
As Hall continues her walk down the medians, pointing out the new trees and the neighbors who were instrumental in making them possible, she admits that she didn’t know much about trees at all when she first moved to the block, but she’s had a great time learning about them.
“I didn’t, but I’ve spent two years learning about them. I really have learned a lot,” she said.