Question:

Why does the city consistently plant drought intolerant trees in areas that are not well suited for them? For example, blue spruce trees are planted is frequently planted around the city by retention ponds and other unsuitable, dry places. Blue spruces (along with other spruces) need consistent moisture, and without such become sparse, scraggly, and susceptible to disease. I understand that they have drip irrigation, but that is not sufficient. There are many evergreen choices that would be superior, such as the ponderosa pine, the limber pine, the bristlecone pine, etc. The trees mentioned have excellent drought tolerance. Will the city ever consider changing its default evergreen choice when planting new trees?

Answer:

"The city is limiting the planting of spruce trees to irrigated turf areas. The planting of all conifer evergreen trees in the right-of-way state roads (e.g. East Grand Avenue, Hwy 287, Hwy 130, and Hwy 230) is now prohibited by the Wyoming Department of Transportation. 120 trees were planted on the north side of Hwy 130 last summer, but none were conifer evergreens. A donation was recently made by a private citizen to plant trees around a new retention pond, which will include one spruce tree as requested by the donor, which is an exception. Trees will be on a drip irrigation system, and the spruce will be located further down the slope of the retention pond, near an inlet so additional water will be more readily available for the spruce."

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