Today I planted 4 small trees in a public place.

[Quantess]

I have several young trees / seedlings growing in pots, grown from seed, or pulled from railroad tracks, or that I bought cheap from a LOWES clearance sale. But in any case, I have too many trees to plant in my own yard. What to do with them all? Well I know just the place.

A nearby riverside park-walking trail in Oregon City, that is surrounded by industrial parks and whose potential is overlooked. And, the place could use some trees. I planted four little 2' evergreen seedlings. I didn't think anyone would bother me, but I wasn't sure.

There was a guy, about 30-ish, on a bike who stopped and fixed a wheel or something.

Two 50-ish women came by and said "oh you're planting a tree...Do you you work for the city?"
I smiled and said "no".
"No?"
No, I just had a few extra trees and I wanted to plant them here, I said.
"Oh how nice, so you're volunteering!" Those ladies were very friendly.

A man in a car drove past me, circled deliberately, slowed down to see what I was up to (at the moment I was carrying a little tree to where I was going to plant it) stared me down, and drove away. I ignored him. I still don't know what his issue was.

Many other people passed by me as I was planting trees along the trail. It was a beautiful day, so I should have known there would be a lot of people out.

As I walked on the trail back to my truck, there was the bicyclist sitting on a bench.
He said, "Hey why did you plant all those trees?" I quickly said "I dunno, I had too many and they wouldn't all fit in my yard, so I thought I'd plant some here."
"I think it's cool!", he said.

Overall, I think I got a good reception.

[ClayZ]

1. Yay! K and R

Thanks for posting your wonderful day!

And now maybe, some day this will happen!

[Swamp Rat]

2. k&r

:applause:

[TomInTib]

3. One for you. quantessd...

Sometime we get the chance

And some of us do something with it

Thank you

Tom

[roguevalley]

4. bless you. trees are good.

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. Watch them.

My experience is no good deed goes unpunished. The guy in the car might ome back and pull them out. See, you had no right blah blah blah. But, good on you for just doing something beautiful.

[Quantess]

16. Yes, I'm worried about that, too.

If he really wanted to he could report me to the city, or something. It's true I didn't ask permission. But I feel like I picked really appropriate spots where they would look right, and wouldn't be in the way. I know it was high handed of me to not get a permit first, but those are the risks I was willing to take.

Hopefully the trees will be left alone.

[bdamomma]

6. maybe you should of said I want to put more oxygen in the atmosphere!!

[Poll_Blind]

7. Thanks for that!

  Before I got to your location I was reading about your actions and thinking "That's SO Oregon!"- I was right! I live in Eugene. Thank you! In 10, 20 or 50 years people are going to walk by that beautiful tree and presume that Nature's hand picked that beautiful spot- and marvel at the wonder of it all. And never guess that such a giant came from the actions of a kind-hearted person, one semi-sunny afternoon, oh-so-long-ago.

PB

[Quantess]

18. Friends of Trees. here's a link.

http://www.friendsoftrees.org/home/index.php

[NickB79]

8. Thank you so much

We need more people willing to take small but important steps just like this. :yourock:

[Booster]

9. It would really worry me if someone objected to someone planting

a tree. I'm glad to see from your post that we haven't gone that far yet. Good for you for planting the trees.

[bean fidhleir]

10. Bravo/a!

Let's hope your generous act inspires 100M more. We need a LOT of tree cover if we want to live.

[Kajsa]

11. Hurray for you!

You're adding beauty to the surroundings,
and the trees will provide shade and help clean the air.

Two big thumbs up for you!

:thumbsup: :applause: :thumbsup:

[Uncle Joe]

12. Thank you, quantessed.

I think it's cool too.:thumbsup:

[WarholPop]

13. So cool . . .

my favorite kind of story, and it brought a big smile to my face :yourock:

[Xithras]

14. The guy in the car might have thought you were stealing them.

It's not uncommon for small trees to be stolen from public spaces by people wanting to use them for their own landscaping. Heck, my neighbor has a redwood in his front yard that he dug up in the Muir Woods when it was just a little 18" sapling (it's over 25' now). The guy in the car might have just been concerned that you were stealing trees from the public right of way.

[Quantess]

17. Most likely he saw me digging with a shovel and wanted to be the concerned citizen.

Or he worked at one of the nearby industries and felt territorial.

But it's nice that even in these post 9-11 paranoid times, people can sense when they DON'T need to feel threatened.

[Quantess]

15. Wow, I got on the Greatest Page! Thanks for supporting me!

I posted it last night, went to bed, and just now checked back in to DU.
I feel really good about it, too. Thanks everybody!

:D

[trusty elf]

19. Hey, you tree-huggin' librul envarmintal eekoterrist wannabe Johnny Appleseed!

I'll cut down two trees for every one you plant!

[trusty elf]

20. A lovely thing to do!

:-)






Sorry about #19! It wasn't really very funny. :eyes:



:hi:

[Quantess]

21. I thought it was funny.!

But most of all, I want everyone to know I had a really good time planting the little trees. It was fun. Planting the trees without permission made it more exciting, I admit it.