La Crosse’s city hall urges watering of young boulevard trees

All those trees city of La Crosse crews planted on the boulevards over the last few years to replace ash trees lost to disease could all use a drink.

Or, most of them, says city parks and forestry supervisor Dan Trussoni. He says the recent hot, dry weather are severely stressing the very youngest trees.

“In the first two years, when the trees are trying to establish their roots, it’s extremely important to keep these trees watered,” Trussoni said. “They take a lot of stress and the more that the trees stress, the less chance of survival it has.”

For the trees that still have watering bags attached, Trussoni urges property owners to fill them up at least three times a week.

“This spring we planted 400 trees,” Trussoni said. “You say, 10 percent of those, if they don’t survive, that’s 40 trees we’re removing, that, you know, we’re going to have to start over on.”

Hours of slow trickle from a hose also works. The city has planted over 1,000 replacement trees the last couple seasons on boulevards.