Did you lose a tree in the June tornado? Morton Arboretum is giving away 300 replacements
When tornadoes swept through the western suburbs late on a Sunday this June, they flattened homes and buildings and also toppled or damaged uncounted trees in the leafy communities of Woodridge, Naperville, Darien and unincorporated Downers Grove Township.
Soon after, the phone started to ring at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, which was just 5 miles north of where one tornado struck. The arboretum serves as a resource to give plant and tree advice in the Chicago area and homeowners were wondering what they should do, said Murphy Westwood, vice president of science and conservation. Should they replant?
The Morton Arboretum announced Monday that it would give away up to 300 trees to private homeowners who lost trees in the June storms. Homeowners can request one tree per address on a first-come, first-served basis by completing a Tornado Recovery Tree Request Form set up by the arboretum. (Only those who lost a tree due to the June 20 tornadoes are eligible.) They will be notified of their selection at the end of October and trees will be delivered to communities for pickup in spring 2022.
The arboretum was already on track to give away 1,000 trees next year to celebrate its 100th anniversary; 300 of those trees through the Centennial Tree Planting Initiative will now be used for tornado recovery for private homeowners, Westwood said.
The rest remain slated for municipal parks, schools and other public places that need trees in the Chicago area, particularly in some of the less leafy — her term is “undercanopied” — city neighborhoods.
“We have a thriving urban forest but we can do better,” she said.
Areas in need were identified through the Morton Arboretum’s 2020 Chicago Region Tree Census, released on Arbor Day last year. Those 700 trees will be planted through community partnerships by the arboretum, first with scouting trips to see what kind of tree would work best, whether sites are near power lines, if they’ll be splashed by road salt and other factors.
The tornado recovery trees will be more in the hands of private homeowners.
On tree giveaway days — the arboretum will bring a selection of trees to communities such as Naperville for those selected to pick up in their cars — arboretum staff will be on hand to help people pick out their trees and to give advice about their care.
Trees will be from 4 to 8 feet high, in pots, with different ages of maturity depending on type. They’ll come from area nurseries the Morton Arboretum partners with. (Those interested in donating to support the Centennial Tree Planting Initiative can do so on the arboretum’s website.)
“The trees will be big enough to establish well,” Westwood said, versus seedlings that are vulnerable to lawn mowers, deer and kicked soccer balls. Species will include oaks (“we’re a big fan of oaks,” she said), red bud, Dutch elm disease-resistant elms, buckeye, catalpa and service berries. One or two people should be able to get them in and out of a minivan.
“I’ve had a tree in my Prius,” she said. “You put the front seat down and it stretches up out the back.”
Homeowners will be asked to attest on the form that they lost a tree specifically in the June 20 tornadoes, and the arboretum will be verifying their addresses were in the damage paths of the storms.
“We really do want these trees to go to those who lost one,” she said. “We take trees for granted. Sometimes it takes a disaster like this for us to realize, driving down a street that used to have a tree canopy, what we’ve lost.”
