City of Sisters plants a tree nursery

One hundred and forty-five new trees are growing at the City of Sisters Public Works yard at the south end of Sisters. It's the first phase of a tree nursery that is expected to provide Sisters' public spaces with trees at about a quarter of the retail cost.

Public works personnel led by Conrad Kiefer planted the bare-root whips in pots, which in turn are placed in pots in holes in the ground in what is known as a "pot-in-pot" nursery.

There are red point maples; autumn blaze maples; chokecherries; mountain ash; crabapple; and serviceberry trees. There are plans to add other varieties, including linden and glow maples.

The City decided to do the planting in the public works yards in part because there was already fencing.

"We had to have fencing," Kiefer said. "We had a doe in here when we first started and she tore up some trees."

Another advantage, according to Public Works Director Paul Bertagna, is that the trees can be monitored every day by crews coming and going on their regular work.

"If you lose irrigation in August, you lose your whole crop," he said.

The trees will be watered using effluent from the City's municipal wastewater system for part of the year.

"We'll water with effluent and will supplement with city water outside our effluent broadcast season," Bertagna said.

He noted that DEQ requires a 30-day period of no contact with effluent before a tree is planted in public space.

"We've got the land, we've got the water, which is rich in nutrients. It's perfectly safe to grow trees," said City Manager Andrew Gorayeb. "I don't know of any city in Oregon that's doing this. There may be, but I'm unaware of it."

Bertagna says the City can pay anywhere from $250 to $450 for a street tree or park tree, delivered from the Willamette Valley. He figures the City's nursery can supply trees at 25 percent of that cost.

The first trees from the City's operation have been planted along a path behind the Timber Creek subdivision.

Gorayeb said that the City is not competing with any tree nursery in Sisters. In fact, he noted, if the city council were to approve it, he would be open to allowing private-sector nurseries and landscapers in Sisters buy the City's trees.

The staff hopes to expand the nursery and is considering building a greenhouse where they can craft the City's own flower baskets for lamp posts - a project near and dear to the heart of public works employee Robin Bentz.

"Robin's been chomping at the bit - we need to grow our own flower baskets," Bertagna said.

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Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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