News and Stories

There’s a new forest lining the Forest Avenue side of Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, thanks to a partnership with Natorp’s and a lot of digging and dirt moving by our horticulture team last week.

The forest on Forest accomplishes several goals, including beautification and instant ecological benefits. These trees will mitigate the urban heat island effect and lower the heat index in the area.  There’s a lot of asphalt in the area, so planting trees where there is space for them is a good thing.

We’re experimenting with different methods of planting large numbers of trees in the community and documenting how we can execute tree planting projects as efficiently as possible. With this specific project, we planted 70 large trees (25-gallon containers, 12’ tall). The tree layout is a mixed planting which includes two varieties each of Elm, Linden, and Oak, and one variety of Maple. The grove is planted four rows deep in an area of existing lawn about 200-feet long and 30-feet deep. A skid steer and auger attachment were used to bore the tree holes. Trees were backfilled with as much existing friable soil as possible and top dressed with a fresh composted soil mix.

This project ties into a larger zoo commitment to improving Avondale in numerous sustainable ways. Another, even bigger tree planting project, spearheaded by Cincinnati Parks Urban Forestry Department, is scheduled to happen in the neighborhood later this month.