Below is a drawing showing proposed planting locations for trees at Sligo playground (You can download the entire drawing here).  The Montgomery County Parks folks wanted to avoid planting trees in the middle of the playground to ensure safety and minimize the risk of branches falling on the playground.  They also wanted to provide sufficient shade to the playground, sufficient habitat value of the trees, and replace the native species of the park that had fallen or been cut down due to disease.

The plan accomplishes all of these goals by planting the following trees along the perimeter of the playground with a couple of trees in other open spots of the tree canopy.  The trees include:

1. 5 sugar maples
   

2. 2 river birches
   

Each of these trees is shown as a black dot.  Five of the spotted trees are native Sugar Maples.  They have medium growth, provide nice fall color, and provide shade. The two trees close to the foot bridge are heritage River Birches, are tolerant to wet areas (the area floods frequently), and have medium growth.

Please get Joe Edgell your comments by noon on Monday, October 12.  The trees need to be ordered soon and planted during the next couple of weeks.