City offers free tree class for Yuma senior citizens

Tree-huggers unite!

OK, so the city of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department may not be that fanatical, but they are offering a free class Thursday for Yuma senior citizens to learn about the proper care and feeding of trees.

Recreation Coordinator Marilyn Lammel says seniors 50 years old and over attending the class will learn about tree health and about good things and bad things in the garden.

Like everything else in life, there's a strategy to good gardening, she said.

"We encourage gardeners to practice compatible growing and the use of helper plants," Lammel said. "For example, alyssum planted with roses will take up a lot of the bugs which feed on roses."

The class runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the West Wetlands Park at 1st Street and 12th Avenue and will meet at the education trailer in the center of the park.

A certified arborist will focus on proper pruning, planting, types of soil and native and non-native trees.

The class includes some light walking around the park to identify trees so dress accordingly, Lammel said.

The class is sponsored in part by a grant from the Arizona State Land Department and the city's recreation department.

The city is also sponsoring a senior education intensive workshop on trees from March 22 through 25 at the West Wetlands Park.

For more information on either event contact public affairs coordinator Troy Wilde at 580-3542.

Roger Blakeley, the city's director of parks development, said the classes will be exciting and will be a good opportunity for people who haven't visited the West Wetlands in a while to see all the changes that are underway.

And as anyone who lives in the desert knows, if you're nice to your trees, they'll be nice to you.