Volunteers Grow Fredericksburg Tree Canopy

About 50 volunteers joined Tree Fredericksburg to plant hundreds of trees Saturday off Fall Hill Avenue.

Anne Little, who organized the event and several others in Fredericksburg, said the trees were purchased from a Shenandoah nursery that has started growing the trees to her specs. She bought 26 varieties and no more than 5 percent of a single variety is planted in a neighborhood. 

"If one pathogen comes down the pike, or an insect, it won't wipe out the rest," she said by having different species of trees.

Fredericksburg government funds and grants help pay for the tree-planting project and the city oversees the initiative, Little said.

"Where there are trees, people feel better," Little said.

The goal is to plant at least 6,000 trees.

Little became interested in tree planting when she joined the Virginia Bluebird Society, and from there she wanted to feed the birds and provide them a healthy environment to flourish. Her backyard is 85 percent native plantings. This effort started five years ago when Little and other volunteers planted about 17 trees at Maury with a $1,000 grant. Virginia Dominion Power gave Tree Fredrericksburg a $10,000 grant to plant smaller trees near power lines.

Little also recently found out that Cox Communications nominated Tree Fredericksburg for an environmental hero award. The winner gets money for his or her organization and the announcement will be made during an event in Herndon in April.