Arriving at the Montpelier Tree Nursery one drizzly morning in early May, I carried a shovel, some pruning shears, garbage bags, and a giant ball of twine. The task at hand was not to plant trees, but to un-plant them. 

That morning, ten of the 15 trees I planted in a tidy row in the nursery last year would go to their “forever homes” in Hartford, Williamstown, Bristol and Ludlow. Four tree wardens, having committed their weekend to traveling to Montpelier, driving their trees home, and planting them with volunteers, each brought care and expertise alongside their sweat equity. 

Within the next two weeks, I dug out and planted two hawthorn trees – one by the playground at Volunteer’s Green in Richmond and one as a memorial tree at Camp Sunrise in Benson, now owned by Outright Vermont. The previous fall, two nursery trees went to Marshfield and Townsend for workshops and community tree planting days.

Now, three elms, two serviceberries, three littleleaf lindens, two London planetrees, two gingkos and two hawthorns grow on public and non-profit land in Vermont municipalities. Twenty-five young trees were planted this spring in their place, growing into their next phase as shade trees under the drip of the Montpelier City irrigation system. While some UCF-sponsored tree planting projects will always involve grants, associated paperwork, and long email chains that iron out complex details, this nursery provides another way to get trees directly to municipalities. With shovels, water, and patience, UCF is excited to stay connected to Vermont’s tree wardens and tend trees for community spaces.

A big thank you goes to the City of Montpelier and City Arborist Joseph Ferris for the loan of the space in the nursery and continued partnership with UCF.