For Immediate Release
Contact: Tina Folch
Public Works Department
651.385.3652
(September 24, 2021, Red Wing, Minn.) – To bolster its efforts in fighting against the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) insect, the City of Red Wing has been awarded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources a $94,000 Shade Tree Bonding Grant. The City will use the funds to supplement its ash tree management efforts by removing an additional 230 trees infested with EAB on City property through 2024. All trees removed must be replaced with a diversified array of tree species. Efforts to bolster the City’s regular schedule of approximately 164 removals and 524 new plantings over the next four years will be needed as tree die-off becomes more rampant.
Yet this fall, the City hopes to plant 110 new trees within boulevards and parks. Fall is a great time to plant new trees and shrubs as it will allow the plants to be better established and struggle less during a hot, dry summer.
If Red Wing property owners are interested in hosting a new tree within the boulevard, the City would like to hear from you. Being a host would mean helping maintain watering efforts. A new tree benefits from frequent watering for the first two weeks by giving it a gallon of water every other day. After two weeks, it needs water every 3-4 days until the ground freezes. An inch of rain counts as a watering.
To volunteer to host a new planting either this fall or next spring, please sign up by completing a short form found at www.red-wing.org/EAB. Volunteer hosts will not be able to select the tree type to be planted due to efforts to diversify the types of trees planted around Red Wing. Questions can be answered by contacting the City’s project coordinator, Tina Folch, at 651-385-3652.
For more information about the City’s response to EAB and how you can help, please visit the City’s website at www.red-wing.org/EAB