ELY- Braving the balmy 30-degree Minnesota spring weather, seventeen mulch-eteers from five different organizations came together early Saturday morning to mulch the 300-plus trees that the Ely’s Tree Board has planted over the last ten years.
The morning got started with tree board and Friends of the Trees of Ely co-founder Mary Groeninger breaking the ground—literally—to demonstrate the proper way to mulch. After breaking up last year’s mulch, she instructed, “Remember to make a mulch donut, not a mulch volcano.” Groeninger explained that mulch which touches the trunk can lead to undesirable insect invasion.
After the mulching lesson, the group broke up into smaller parties. The groups headed off to mulch trees along Chapman and Washington Sts., in Whiteside Park, and along the Trezona Trail.
The volunteers included Austin Van Scoy and his young son Rolan from Dutchman Tree Service; the advisor and liaison to the tree board from Minnesota North College, Rita Koch; and members of AmeriCorps, the Ely Tree Board and the Friends of the Trees of Ely.
The city of Ely donated the mulch and lent out some of the equipment for the morning’s mulching effort. The coordinators of the event handed out maps to mulching locations so no one would accidently bark up the wrong trees.
Leafing the trees behind, the volunteers finished their work morning with lunch at the First Presbyterian Church, organized by tree board co-founder Val Nestruk.s