During on-again-off-again rain showers, about a dozen people helped dig trenches and plant young trees along a heavily used trail in Christmas Hill Park Saturday morning.
The work helped establish a demonstration site, installed in partnership with Santa Clara County and Our City Forest, to showcase 20 native trees just north of the Miller Red Barn on the Ranch Site.
“I’ve always felt that volunteering for my community is a valuable thing to do,” said Vanessa Jimenez of San Jose, who was in the company of Daniel Wolf, as the pair took turns at the shovel strapping in the young trees with rubber support cords. “It just feels good to be out here making the community a better place; I’m sure this will look real nice as the trees mature.”
Michael Pistininzi of Our City Forest said the crews and volunteers were planting native trees such as elm, maple and buckeye thanks to a host of donors.
The site will be used as a location for residents to view and select native trees for possible tree replacement of trees through the Our City Forest program. The City of Gilroy has partnered with Our City Forest, a San Jose-based nonprofit that provides trees and educational services for residents, to provide a tree replacement program for city-owned trees that have been removed.
