Decatur-Adams County Parks & Recreation Department, Forestry Department

The Decatur Parks & Recreation Department and the Street Department are teamed up to develop a healthy, safe urban forest that future generations will be able to enjoy!

City Street Tree Care Policy

Decatur has been a tree city since 1993. Currently, we prune, remove and plant trees on the city streets to improve our urban forest. The city has been divided into 5 zones and one zone a year is scheduled to have the hazardous trees removed, all trees pruned and new trees planted.

The Parks & Recreation Department work in conjunction with the Street Department and a private contractor. The Parks Department removes trees from December through February. Then a private contractor grinds the stumps. New trees are planted in mid-March. The Parks Department maintains a year round pruning schedule.

The City Forester, Dwight Pierce, must give written permission before any home owner works on the street trees. New trees may be planted by home owners; however, the trees must be listed on Decatur's approved list of street trees. The city has the right to remove any non-desirable trees.

Tree Selection

Soil Condition: Provides the foundation for a healthy tree. Determine if your soil is wet, clay, or loamy acid then choose a tree that will thrive in those conditions.

Exposure: Choose a full sunlight location for your tree. Very few of them will thrive in a shaded location.

Human Activity: Choose a location that will be easy to water and where the soil will not become compacted; especially important while the trees are young.

Space Constraints: Consider your greenway width, presence of overhead wires and building locations. Look to the future and plant your trees where they have room to spread out and grow over the next 30 years.

Hardiness: Indiana is located in cold tolerance Zone 5. Choose a tree that will thrive in zones with a rating of 5 or lower.

Planting Tips for Success

Dig a shallow wide hole

Place the tree at the same depth as they grew in the nursery. In wet areas taper the dirt away from the tree trunk.

Remove rope and burlap from balled trees. Squeeze the sides of a potted tree and slide out. Cut roots that circle the root mass.

Straighten the tree before backfilling

Fill the hole 1/2 full, gently pack down the soil, then water to settle the soil. Repeat until hole is filled.

Stake the tree for added support and protection from wind and human activity.

Mulch a circle around the tree 2 - 4 inches deep. The mulch should not touch the tree trunk.

Do not fertilize the tree until it is 2 years old.

Pruning

Trees are pruned for safety, health, aesthetics, fruit production, to removed dead or diseased wood, improve the structure and raise the canopy. Topping, the process of cutting off the top of the tree, is no longer an approved method of tree pruning. Use the following tips for healthy, long lasting trees.

Prune mostly in the winter or early spring, sparingly, or as needed in other seasons.
All cuts need to be made to a lateral branch or to the branch bark collar on the trunk. Do not leave stubs.
Do not use wound dressing, the running sap from the tree will heal the cut.
Do not remove more than 1/3 of the foliage at one time.
Do not cut back the central leader on young trees, genetics will control the fullness and size.
Use the three point cut on larger branches to keep the bark from tearing. (see diagram)

Decatur Compost Program

The only registered side in Adams County, The Decatur Compost Facility, is located behind Riverside Center on Jackson Street. This facility is open 24 hrs a day. Your organic waste of grass and garden waste, branches, leaves and soil may be deposited any time. The facility uses these organic materials for compost or woodchip production.

Compost

Compost is a human assisted, natural process wherein a person attempts to establish and maintain optimum conditions for micro-organisms to break down organic material. At the Decatur compost site, the facility operator achieves these conditions through the combination of leaves, grass and herbaceous plants into windrow. This mixture is turned or mixed weekly to blend the various materials and to provide oxygen for the micro-organisms.

Compost is this mixture finely broken down to resemble dirt, but it is not black dire. Compost us used as an amendment to improve solid structure and provide nutrients for plant growth. Three to four inches of material applied to the surface, then tilled into the soil annually, should adequately maintain your soil's optimum condition. Make sure you use compost that is finished off to prevent competition between the mirco- organisms with your plants for the vital and limited Nitrogen supply. Lack of nitrogen starves plants. The Decatur compost site produces 800 yards of compost annually. The demand for compost is high in the spring and the supply is depleted by May.

Woodchips

Wood ships are beneficial as landscape mulch used to retain moisture, reduce week growth and moderate solid temperatures. Wood ships should be applied 2 - 4 inches deep and should not be allowed to touch tree trunks or the stems of woody shrubs. The bark of growing trees and shrubs need exposure to sunlight and air to function properly and maintain a healthy condition.

Do not mix the wood chips into your soil as you do compost. The wood chips contain a high carbon to nitrogen ration will starve your plants of valuable Nitrogen. A Nitrogen imbalance in your soil will take several years to correct and replenish. Wood chips lying on top of the soil will naturally decompose over time and valuable nutrients will leach down into the soil to be absorbed by your plants. The Decatur Compost facility generates 1400 cubic yards of wood chips that are available to city residents all year long.