Trees in Waco’s parks and public spaces have taken a beating in recent years from wind, drought and disease, but a project is afoot to replenish the “urban forest.”
The city of Waco is preparing to plant 700 saplings at a new city tree nursery near Waco Regional Airport, with plans to begin transplanting them in about five years.
Ultimately, the city nursery could have as many as 7,000 young trees and produce about 500 trees a year, city park Superintendent Burck Tollett said.
“We’re going to save about 50 percent on our tree costs, and we’re going to grow some trees you can’t easily get commercially,” Tollett said.
The nursery is an expansion of an experimental “urban forestry” program the city started a decade ago on vacant lots it acquired through tax sales near Orchard Lane in East Waco.
The lots lacked sewer, so the city couldn’t sell them. But the city had to mow them anyway, so crews planted and maintained trees such as bald cypress and bur oak.
In recent months, the city had a company dig up 62 trees and plant them at areas that had lost trees, such as Cameron Park, Buena Vista Park and the Herring Avenue median near North Fourth Street. Others were planted along the river at Brazos Park East.
The city is preparing to dig up another 96 trees from the site and plant them at parks such as Jaycees Park and Pioneer Park.
Tollett estimated that the total cost to the city of each 10-year-old tree planted will be $100. The city is preparing to replant trees on the vacant lots for future transplants.
The city plans to grow a variety of oaks, redbuds and pecans as well as hard-to-find trees such as pawpaw, gingko, Chinquapin oak and hickory.
About 700 pots of trees are waiting at a city greenhouse to be planted next month at the old Central Texas Zoo tract near the airport. The site has access to irrigation water.
Tollett said the trees will be planted in “grow bags” that can be easily pulled up after a few years without major damage to the root ball.
Tollett said many Waco parks need more shade trees, while others, such as Cameron Park, are in danger of losing some old trees.
For example, many of the pecan trees in Pecan Bottoms were planted a century ago as a memorial to fallen World War I soldiers, he said.
Ashley Millerd, program director at Keep Waco Beautiful, said the city’s nursery will help save money and make Waco a greener place to live.
“I love that they’re about to use some of the land near the airport,” she said. “It will beautify that area. It’s amazing what they’re doing. If we could do that and create a system for growing trees, we won’t have to spend so much buying trees.”
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