Santa Margarita 4-H families and soccer friends came together on this bright Saturday morning to plant trees and to distribute tree care educational materials to local homeowners. Juno Laing served as project chairperson and also created the "Don't top trees!" door hangers. Katie Patterson, another Santa Margarita 4-H member, created a simple tree care guide which was distributed. Five trees, including 3 ash and 2 'Accolade' elms, were planted along H St. across from the Catholic Church. Two trees, both purple pony flowering plums, were planted at a pre-selected site in Garden Farms. Thanks to all of the tree amigos who pitched in to make this a successful project and especially to Jimmy Laing (tree transport/planting materials), Vern Stewart (water/trailer transport), Warren Scott (backhoe), Greg Saenz (tree selection), Nick Fortune/Oak Country Lumber (tree donation), and Simone Smith/The Educated Gardener (tree discounts).

AND, while the 4-H and soccer families were planting trees...other tree amigos were taking care of trees at the Demonstration Forest. Jack McCabe pruned the valley oak and chitalpa with help from Mark Elliott and Joan Collier. Now, we're ready for spring!

Thanks to the 2005 California ReLeaf/California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection Urban Forestry Grant Program for supporting this tree planting and care project.