TreeFolks plants 2,000 native trees at Jacob's Well

HAYS COUNTY  — TreeFolks is working with Jacob’s Well Natural Area to pilot a new system aimed to increase tree resilience and survival rates in Central Texas’ ever-changing climate.

As Austin’s only urban reforestation nonprofit, TreeFolks’ mission is to empower Central Texans to build stronger communities through planting and caring for trees. Since 1989, TreeFolks has planted nearly 3 million trees in Central Texas. The organization focuses on large-scale reforestation, riparian sapling plantings, urban tree canopy education and the distribution of native Texas trees to surrounding neighborhoods and communities.

On average, TreeFolks plants nearly 100,000 trees and saplings each year and this spring, the organization planted 2.2 acres with nearly 2,000 native and adapted tree species at Jacob’s Well. The varieties of trees include shade trees and fruiting and flowering species, including Pecan, Texas Mountain Laurel, Elderberry and Honey Mesquite, in addition to the iconic Live Oak variety. These trees will improve the health of the floodplain area next to Cypress Creek, improving both the water quality and the overall ecosystem health of the riparian buffer zone.

TreeFolks used 250 Groasis Waterboxxes — which capture rainwater and slowly releases extra water to the newly planted trees throughout the year — at the Jacob’s Well site, with two trees in each box. Throughout the summer, staff will monitor the water levels in the boxes, and during the fall, TreeFolks will determine if the new technology was able to bolster survival rates and by how much. The Waterboxxes are designed to give trees just enough water to survive, but not so much that they depend on the box, forcing the tree roots to search deeper for water.

“We just want to let people know that this is a reforestation effort. It is going to really be helping the whole ecosystem. By planting the trees, we're going to see the soil quality improved. We're hoping to see improvements in water quality as well,” said TreeFolks Communications & Media Manager Elle Ignatowski. “If this pilot program goes well, then it will allow TreeFolks to start looking for more funding to make this Groasis Waterboxx system part of our process and that will allow us, once again, to really see good survival rates, better than what we get in nature, even as the climate changes.”

When TreeFolks does large scale plantings, which happens through some of the volunteer work and reforestation, such as the Central Texas Floodplain Reforestation Program, the organization will plant about four times the number of trees needed. For example, if 100 trees are wanted in an area, TreeFolks will plant 400, knowing that only a certain percentage will survive.

“With all of the difficult conditions that we're having in the climate the last couple of years between the freezes, droughts and the really hot summers, that's about the survival rate we're seeing, [which] is pretty much on par with what we're seeing in nature. But we want to see if we can do better than what happens in nature and use technology and try to get that survival rate up so that we don't have to grow as many trees,” Ignatowski said. “We can be a little more selective [and] more efficient. Tree planting season in Texas is from October to March. You want to get your trees in the ground before the end of March because then, the trees settle in before the summer heat, [which] is really the biggest challenge for them. So, if we can see trees make it through their first summer, that's a really good indication that they're going to survive long term.”

Treefolks Lead Arborist and Director of Reforestation Valerie Tamburri said that if the study is successful, it would be a “game changer” because people would be able to better control tree survival instead of depending on adequate rainfall each year after plantings.

The study conducted at Jacob’s Well is funded in part by a Texas Parks & Wildlife Habitat and Angler Access Program grant, which helped fund the purchase of Groasis Waterboxxes, trees and wild grass and flower seeds for the TreeFolks Central Texas Floodplain Reforestation Program.

“Jacob's Well is a beloved community space and we wanted to give this site every advantage, especially since the public can watch the process unfold alongside us and enjoy the results, too,” said Ignatowski. “This site was ideal for our pilot project because of its size and public access. It was easy to get our water tank and hoses to the planting site and there was water on site to refill them, making the process efficient and easy."

"This will truly help our restoration efforts at Jacob's Well for reforestation in the southern part of the park. I am really excited to see these newly planted trees grow over the next few years! We are grateful to TreeFolks for offering this flood restoration program,” said Parks Specialist I Nina Leonard.

For more information about TreeFolks, visit www.treefolks.org and landowners interested in receiving reforestation services can email [email protected].