Thanks to volunteers, dozens of downtown tree wells no longer empty

Downtown Modesto just got a lot greener thanks to a joint effort by two Rotary Clubs, the city and the Downtown Modesto Partnership.

About 35 members of the Modesto Rotary and Modesto Sunrise Rotary, joined by other volunteers, dirtied their green thumbs Saturday morning by planting more than 40 pistache and gingko trees.

The saplings went into sidewalk planting wells between Ninth and 18th streets and E and O streets, replacing trees that either died from drought or were cut down for the Modesto Grand Prix Superkart races in August 2014, said Lynn Dickerson, a Modesto Rotary member.

In advance, city crews removed any remaining stumps and dug dirt from the wells, leaving them ready for planting, said Dickerson, CEO of the Gallo Center for the Arts. The volunteers got to work at about 8 a.m. and were done by 9:30 or so.

DoMo Partnership ambassadors will follow up with merchants located near the newly planted trees, asking them to keep an eye out for vandals, Dickerson said. Sadly, young trees often have branches or their thin trunks snapped, she said.

Anyone who sees a person damaging trees is urged to report the location in an email to safe@domopartnership.org. The email will buzz the phones carried by DoMo ambassadors, who will respond to the scene, Dickerson said.

The city has committed to watering the trees for at least their first year, she said. It should take two years before they’re rooted deeply enough to be self-sufficient during summer, she added.

Of Saturday’s effort, Dickerson said, “Really, truly, we got to only about half the empty tree wells downtown.” Some still have stumps that need to be removed. “Since this went so well, and if they live and all goes well, I’m hoping next fall to do this again.”