More Trees and People to Care for Them in La Crescent

LA CRESCENT, MN – Sitting in the shade of one of thousands of trees on La Crescent’s public land that he volunteered to tend, Greg Watson knew which branches needed to be pruned, what kind of tree it was and why it’s so very valuable to the town.

What puzzled him was what he should be called. “I’m not sure I’d call myself a tree guy,” he said. “I’m not sure I have a description.”

He’s said he’s more of a hiker who volunteered to help the city trees now that he’s retired from maintaining equipment at a Wisconsin cheese-processing plant.

La Crescent touts its Tree City USA distinction on a sign along a highway. (Photo by John Weiss)

Trees, apples and volunteers

But La Crescent knows what to call itself. It’s a Tree City USA, touts itself as “The Apple Capital of Minnesota,” has many streets named for trees or apples, still has several orchards nearby, has places that sell apples and is a city with a deep appreciation for trees.

La Crescent can also point to several people, including Watson, who volunteered to be trained to help its trees, and thanks to a $39,484 state grant, has started planting about 425 bare-root trees to replace the ash trees it cut down due to emerald ash borer.

It was one of 38 cities or groups to receive the grants totaling nearly $7 million from the state. There were 151 applicants from across the state seeking more than $33.1 million. Replacing ash trees was a priority.

The city public works staff and Lions Club volunteers gather to plant 110 trees on April 25, 2024 (Arbor Day). La Crescent Sustainability Coordinator and SRTS Coordinator, Jason Ludwigson, second from the right in the back. (Photo provided by the city of La Crescent)

According to the city’s announcement of the grant, “The tree plantings will bring many benefits to the community including reduced flooding by absorbing stormwater, conserving energy and cooling buildings during summer heat, provide community shade, host food for wildlife, and cut noise and air pollution.”

Jason Ludwigson, city sustainability coordinator, echoed that thought, saying they are not only great for those reasons, but also are a strong aesthetic enhancement for La Crescent. “It’s a win-win-win situation,” he said.

New trees planted in a park and already being enjoyed by families out for the day. (Photo by John Weiss)

Trees were planted this year on public land such as stormwater retention basins, parks and rights-of-way. Next year, 50 trees will be given to homeowners to plant and care for on their boulevards, he said.

“We were one of the first cities in the state of Minnesota to tackle the emerald ash borer,” Ludwigson said.

One of the first places in the state where it was found was nearby Great River Bluffs State Park. “In hindsight, that was a good decision to do that, to remove them early,” he said.

He came to the city in 2021 and when he drove around, he noticed some areas looked barren.

“It still does in a lot of places,” he said. “It’s definitely noticeable.” Yet he also stressed that the city still has a lot of trees and is adding more.

A growing plan

“Once ash trees were gone, the city trees were mostly maple,” Ludwigson said.

In these next plantings, instead of concentrating on one new tree species, La Crescent will plant swamp white oak, white oak, cathedral elm (it’s a hybrid which is resistant to Dutch elm disease), ironwood, honey locus and hackberry. 

In the Spring of 2024, 110 trees were planted and by July only two had died, possibly from shock of being moved or planted.

Crews spent a full day planting hundreds of trees throughout the city. (Photo provided by the city of La Crescent)

Soon after trees were planted, a series of downpours walloped the region, including La Crescent.

Ludwigson said that is overall good. They’d rather have rain than drought because trees need about an inch of water per week. It also means the city staff doesn’t have to do as much watering, Ludwigson said.

Volunteers make all the difference

Four people, including Watson, volunteered to be trained to be tree stewards, he said.

Watson said he grew up out east but came here because his wife is from La Crescent.

Though he’s a hiker and started the Driftless Drifters who hike year-round, he heard about the steward program, went to a meeting, liked the idea “and has been doing it ever since,” he said.

Watson does like trees and joined to help the city, he said. The program asks volunteers to put in at least 10 hours a year.

He soon learned that not all trees are alike, and they can have problems.

“Once you start looking at them, there are different things that can go wrong. Just how the branches are,” he said. If they have many leaders growing up, it weakens the tree. If the tree is young, they will prune off unneeded leaders.

And the tree he was sitting under to enjoy the shade in late July had drooping branches that would bother city workers mowing beneath them, he said. He showed how he quickly prunes them.

New trees La Crescent planted this year on public land using money from a state grant. (Photo by John Weiss)

After he was done talking, Watson was again asked for what he should be called. He decided on “volunteer trees steward.” It’s not flashy but it’s accurate.

One of the stewards he works with is Betsy Knowles, a retired University of Wisconsin, La Crosse professor of resource economics.

Betsy Knowles stands next to a tree on La Crescent city land. (Photo by John Weiss)

“I do a lot of hiking and I like being outside,” she said. She thought about volunteering for something but wanted something that aligned with her interests. She heard about the Tree Steward Community program through the University of Minnesota and liked the idea.

“This education allows residents to get involved with caring for their community’s public urban and community trees through volunteerism,” according to the U of M.

While La Crescent has done a great job getting the grant for more trees. “it’s not enough to plant the trees,” Knowles said. “They need to be cared for, especially when young.”

So much to learn, volunteers return for more

She was so impressed with her first training session that, like Watson, took it a second time. “We are like, wow, there is a lot of information, I wouldn’t mind hearing it again,” she said.

Some things she learned were that some trees, such as oaks and locust, should only be trimmed at certain times of the year or they will be prone to disease. And pruning can do more damage than good if done incorrectly. When planting, depth is critical, Knowles said. “There’s actually more to it than I thought,” she said.

She praised her city for making the investment in more trees and noted all its trees in parks, including those on the blufflands. In fact, it has so many that it can’t care for all of them, which is where stewards come in, she said.

Knowles is in her second year and enjoying it; she often goes out as part of a team, with Watson and Ludwigson, so they can get more opinions about how to care for a specific tree.

For safety reasons, they don’t use ladders so they have to tend trees when they are young, she said. In winter, she might also thin out buckthorn. Now that she’s trained, she might also see oak wilt when on a local trail.

Like Ludwigson and Watson, she pointed to the multiple benefits of trees, summing it up this way: “They are an investment that pays such great returns: cleaning our air, recharging our water, giving us shade, providing habitat – and their beauty recharges our spirits – seems like all that deserves some extra care!”