Hooray for Spring!
Mayor Blair Camp speaks during city council meeting. Here is his monthly message. (Shaun Delliskave/City Journals)
By Blair Camp
Hooray for Spring is the title of a children’s book by Kazuo Iwamura. The author asks the question “What child doesn’t love the first signs of spring?” and makes the statement, “It’s spring, and the world is full of new leaves, and cherry blossoms, and hungry baby birds.”
Spring in Murray is that time of year where the cooler days start to give way to warmer ones, the May flowers are adding a splash of color back into our neighborhoods, and grass and trees are green once again. We are fortunate to have had a good winter for snowpack, and a wet spring to replenish our water supplies.
As the weather warms, it’s a great time to consider what we can do to help beautify our community. Of course, we can all start with our own homes and neighborhoods. Planting and caring for trees are significant ways to beautify neighborhoods.
Our Murray City Adopt-a-Roadway is now up and running. We have had several inquiries, and the first “adoption” happened last month. The intent of this program is to provide the opportunity for families, organizations, or neighborhoods to provide service in helping to keep our roadways free of trash and weeds. Any interested parties can get additional information from our public works department at http:// www.murray.utah.gov/1704/18314/Adopt-a-Roadway or by calling 801-270-2440.
Also, in helping with beautification, our Public Works Department is providing wood chips free of charge to Murray City residents. They are available on Fridays between noon and 3 p.m. at the Public Works facility, 4646 South 500 West. Just bring your truck, trailer, or other container and our city crews will load it for you. These wood chips are given out on a first come basis. Please call 801-270-2440 to check on availability.
Trees are another great part of city beautification. Murray City has been recognized again this year as a “Tree City, USA” for the 42nd consecutive year, the longest of any city in Utah. Murray City has a Forestry Division located in the Power Department. Our trained and certified arborists are happy to answer questions and provide guidance on tree planting and care. They will also provide information on recommended landscaping and parking strip trees, as well as those that are not recommended. For example, did you know that a Frontier Elm is a recommended medium size landscape tree, but a Siberian Elm is NOT recommended. A new brochure will be released to coincide with our Arbor Day program on May 3. The offering of street trees for sale to the public is closed for this year but will be available again next February 1. For additional information, you can visit the webpage at http://murray.utah.gov/81/Street-Tree-PlantingMaintenance or by calling 801-264-2729. The new tree care brochure will soon be available on the website.
One of the biggest challenges relating to street trees is the coexistence of trees and sidewalks. This is a major problem in virtually every community. Occasionally a street tree needs to be removed due to damage to the sidewalk, or due to right-ofway widening. In these cases, every effort is made to plant a replacement tree for each one removed.
I would also encourage all our residents and businesses to consider the installation of an automatic or a smart timer for yard irrigation. Smart watering will help keep the lawns and shrubs green without using excess water. Even with our wet winter and spring, conservation of our water resources is important. Overwatering wastes our precious water and wastes your money.
As we venture outdoors into the warmth and sun that comes with spring, I hope we will all do what we can do to help beautify our city and keep Murray as a place we can be proud to call home.
Hooray for Spring is the title of a children’s book by Kazuo Iwamura. The author asks the question “What child doesn’t love the first signs of spring?” and makes the statement, “It’s spring, and the world is full of new leaves, and cherry blossoms, and hungry baby birds.”
Spring in Murray is that time of year where the cooler days start to give way to warmer ones, the May flowers are adding a splash of color back into our neighborhoods, and grass and trees are green once again. We are fortunate to have had a good winter for snowpack, and a wet spring to replenish our water supplies.
As the weather warms, it’s a great time to consider what we can do to help beautify our community. Of course, we can all start with our own homes and neighborhoods. Planting and caring for trees are significant ways to beautify neighborhoods.
Our Murray City Adopt-a-Roadway is now up and running. We have had several inquiries, and the first “adoption” happened last month. The intent of this program is to provide the opportunity for families, organizations, or neighborhoods to provide service in helping to keep our roadways free of trash and weeds. Any interested parties can get additional information from our public works department at http:// www.murray.utah.gov/1704/18314/Adopt-a-Roadway or by calling 801-270-2440.
Also, in helping with beautification, our Public Works Department is providing wood chips free of charge to Murray City residents. They are available on Fridays between noon and 3 p.m. at the Public Works facility, 4646 South 500 West. Just bring your truck, trailer, or other container and our city crews will load it for you. These wood chips are given out on a first come basis. Please call 801-270-2440 to check on availability.
Trees are another great part of city beautification. Murray City has been recognized again this year as a “Tree City, USA” for the 42nd consecutive year, the longest of any city in Utah. Murray City has a Forestry Division located in the Power Department. Our trained and certified arborists are happy to answer questions and provide guidance on tree planting and care. They will also provide information on recommended landscaping and parking strip trees, as well as those that are not recommended. For example, did you know that a Frontier Elm is a recommended medium size landscape tree, but a Siberian Elm is NOT recommended. A new brochure will be released to coincide with our Arbor Day program on May 3. The offering of street trees for sale to the public is closed for this year but will be available again next February 1. For additional information, you can visit the webpage at http://murray.utah.gov/81/Street-Tree-PlantingMaintenance or by calling 801-264-2729. The new tree care brochure will soon be available on the website.
One of the biggest challenges relating to street trees is the coexistence of trees and sidewalks. This is a major problem in virtually every community. Occasionally a street tree needs to be removed due to damage to the sidewalk, or due to right-ofway widening. In these cases, every effort is made to plant a replacement tree for each one removed.
I would also encourage all our residents and businesses to consider the installation of an automatic or a smart timer for yard irrigation. Smart watering will help keep the lawns and shrubs green without using excess water. Even with our wet winter and spring, conservation of our water resources is important. Overwatering wastes our precious water and wastes your money.
As we venture outdoors into the warmth and sun that comes with spring, I hope we will all do what we can do to help beautify our city and keep Murray as a place we can be proud to call home.
