Resilient Goshen: Fall Tree Fundraiser Helps Grow Goshen’s Urban Forest
GOSHEN, Ind. — Trees For Goshen will help grow Goshen’s urban forest during its third annual Fall Tree Fundraiser on Oct. 2. The event will take place during First Friday outside the Electric Brew on Washington Street in downtown Goshen. Trees will be available starting at 5 p.m. while supplies last.
Trees For Goshen (TFG) is a local nonprofit organization focused on increasing and caring for Goshen’s tree cover. One of the most important ways TFG works toward this goal is by making young trees available to City residents. It does this by purchasing small, container-grown trees, usually about one-quarter to one-half inch in diameter or about 3 to 5 feet tall, which cost around $25 per tree. During the Fall Tree Fundraiser, residents can pick up trees at the TFG site at the Electric Brew for a suggested $25 donation, which covers the cost of each tree.
While not everyone may be able to contribute $25 for a tree, TFG plans to make sure anyone who wants a tree can take one home. This is extremely important because trees, tree shade and other benefits of trees should grow in every neighborhood, in every yard or wherever anyone wants a tree, so that all people can take advantage of tree generosity.
Fall Fundraiser Supports Goshen’s Urban Forest
Furthermore, trees are like a soccer team: If there are only one or two players on the field, they’re going to really struggle to do well. But if there is a well-coached team of 11 on the field, with more players ready to contribute waiting on the bench, they can do a lot of good. In other words, more trees planted in all parts of Goshen create the strongest team, the most vibrant urban forest, which provides the best cover for people.
In order for this model to work, TFG is asking those who can contribute more than $25 per tree to pay a little more forward.This will allow everyone interested to receive trees and help TFG raise enough money to purchase more next year. As our climate continues to warm, these trees provide increasingly valuable shade and other benefits to our neighborhoods. Every tree planted now helps us toward our citywide goal of 45% tree shade by 2045.
Trees Available Oct. 2
These are some of the trees that will be available Oct. 2.
American beech is a large canopy tree, growing more than 60 feet tall and able to spread more than 50 feet wide. It is recognized for its smooth, almost skinlike bark and the copper-orange color its leaves turn in the fall.
American plum is a small understory tree that may grow to 20 feet tall. It blooms with small, fragrant white flowers in the spring, which ripen into edible fruit in midsummer.
Yellowbud hickory can grow to 60 feet tall in ideal settings and may spread to 40 feet wide. As a hickory, it produces edible nuts in the fall that people increasingly prize for their high oil content, which they can harvest, press and use in cooking.
Black gum is a medium-sized tree, usually not growing more than 40 feet tall in northern Indiana. It tends to keep a conical form, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. Leaves turn a deep red to pink in the fall.
Cucumber magnolia is a large tree, growing to 50 or more feet with an equal spread. It produces a light yellow-green flower in the spring, which yields a large, dark pink, inedible fruit.
More Trees for Goshen’s Urban Forest
Pawpaw is a small, shade-tolerant tree that can grow to more than 20 feet tall and usually keeps a narrow spread. Dark burgundy-colored flowers in the spring can mature into edible fruits in late summer. Eaten at the right moment, pawpaws taste like wild, sweet custard.
Saskatoon serviceberry is another small tree, usually 10 to 15 feet tall. It blooms with lots of white flowers in midspring. Sweet, edible berries ripen in early June.
Sassafras is typically a medium-sized tree, though it can reach heights of 50 feet in ideal sites. Its irregularly shaped leaves turn bright red and orange in the fall.
White spruce is a large evergreen, growing to more than 40 feet tall with a width of 20 feet around its skirt.
Scarlet oak is a large canopy tree that can grow to more than 60 feet tall with a spread of more than 50 feet. At maturity, it produces acorns, which are loved by wildlife. Many years, its leaves turn dark red in the fall.
Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley serves as Goshen’s director of Environmental Resilience and joined the City as its first urban forester in 2006. Readers can find this column bi-weekly on Saturdays in The Goshen News.