The City of Tiffin's annual public tree planting for 2023 is complete, bringing 41 new trees to publicly owned tree lawns. This investment into green infrastructure is already good news, but the real excitement is how the City has turned over a new leaf to sustainably manage its urban forest . . . pun definitely intended!
Tiffin's City Arborists and Shade Tree Commission have adopted a series of best management practices that incorporate the entire lifecycle of City trees. Beginning two years ago, pruning and removal of existing trees led to site inventory, soil sampling, resident notification, utility deconfliction, soil amendment, tree selection, and of course planting. All of this occurred in the northeast area of town, one of six assigned sectors that allow the City to keep a steady pace of management that good urban forestry requires.
Planning and execution of these same actions is already underway in additional sectors, underscoring the City's emphasis on proper management of this living element of the town. However, the overhaul of this program is not an overnight process.
Mayor Dawn Iannantuono provided outstanding leadership and support during the adoption of these new practices. She summarized the situation best when stating, "Large, mature public trees have tremendous positive effects on local environmental conditions, residents' health, property values, and numerous other factors. Each of these 41 new trees represent dozens of empirically-based actions and decisions centered on achieving maximum return on the City's investment. I am very proud of our Public Works Department's Superintendent and two Arborists for their hard work and dedication to ensuring the life span and beauty of our city trees for the benefit of all who live here."
