Up With Trees is looking for donors to sponsor Tulsa street medians.
The program is part of a new public-private partnership with the city.
The local non-profit maintains 500 tree locations and over the summer took over maintenance on nearly 10 miles of city medians. Up with Trees is hoping to find sponsors to help underwrite those costs.
The maintenance work includes watering, mulching, pruning, weed control and others tasks.
“The City was working with limited dollars for maintenance, and approached us about using our model – where donors underwrite the costs of planting and taking care of trees – to help cover these expenses,” said Up With Trees Executive Director Anna America.
On traditional Up With Trees sites, sponsors make tax-deductible donations to pay for tree sites along roads, in parks and other public spaces, are recognized with the group’s well-known wooden signs. The new median maintenance sponsors also will be acknowledged with signs, although in a smaller format and different style.
Up With Trees took over the medians as of July 1. Medians now being maintained by Up With Trees include 71st Street (Riverside Drive to Garnett Road), Yale Avenue (51st to 61st streets) and 15th Street (Harvard to Yale avenues.).
Median sponsorships, including signage, start at $1,900 a year, and a number of spots have already been sponsored, said America. “So far, our focus has been on watering and weed control, but we are hoping to be able to do some things like overseed grass and additional plantings that the City really hasn’t had the resources for,” she said.
For information about the program, contact Up With Trees at 918-610-8733,
http://www.upwithtrees.org/programs/medians/ , or email trees@upwithtrees.org.
