By Sherry Stanek
Member, Urban Forestry Commission

The 4th Annual Community Tree Sale was held Arbor Day weekend as in past years, and for a change, we didn’t have a Nor’easter or any blizzards! The weather was seasonal and hundreds of people came to browse and buy native trees and shrubs that can’t be found easily in the area and were grateful to find them in Whitewater! Many of the buyers have been to one or more of our earlier sales and several said they’d see us again next year!

This year more than 350 native trees and shrubs were purchased! Several people asked why Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission holds this sale, and we explained that local pollinators and birds need native plants, shrubs and trees to survive, and we all need pollinators and birds! This is our effort to increase awareness of this fact and to make it easier for people to find native plants that they often aren’t able to find at big box stores and outlets nearby so that they can add native plants to their landscapes. The few that don’t sell each year are planted at Starin Park as we work to expand the Arboretum there. Thanks to these sales, more than a thousand native trees and shrubs have been added to our area on private land! Thanks to our City Foresters for increasing the numbers of native trees planted on city streets and in our parks each year. Because of their work and dedication, Whitewater is one of the MOST diverse Tree Cities in the entire state of Wisconsin! And that’s a big deal! If another pest like Emerald Ash Borer shows up here like it did a few years ago, we won’t lose so many of our city street and park trees because of the wide variety of trees in our urban forest!

Thank you to all of the many volunteers, city staff and, of course, our customers, who make this possible. It couldn’t happen without all of you!! And a special thank you to the Whitewater Middle School Show Choir members who helped us celebrate another year of being a Wisconsin Tree City!