James City County/Williamsburg
Master Gardeners

Peninsula Tree Stewards

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Tree Stewards are Master Gardeners who have completed additional training, specifically in the area of Urban Forestry.

This advanced state master gardener program involves approximately the same effort as the original training to become a master gardener--plus extra volunteer hours in one of our Tree Steward programs.

Upon graduating training as a Tree Steward, the Master Gardener is expected to participate in some of the Urban Forestry projects undertaken each year.

The Peninsula Tree Stewards grew out of a shrubs and trees focus group that was organized in 1997. We soon realized we needed more education to be effective educators so we organized a Tree Steward Training Class, a series of 12 meetings bringing together prominent educators and leaders in the field of arboriculture to share their expertise with us, both in a classroom setting and on field trips. Classes covered tree anatomy, propagation, planting and care, health and maintenance, pruning, riparian issues, soils, tree identification and tree inventory. The twenty participants were from York County and Newport News as well as James City County.

After graduation we added trees as a Speaker's Bureau topic and made presentations on tree planting and care. We also presented pruning clinics. In order to develop our skill at tree inventory we inventoried Cedar Grove Cemetery, Bicentennial Park, and the York County Learning Garden. Our biggest project was the reforestation of a community done in Governor's Land. We worked with the residents to assess the needs of the community, brought in speakers, taught the residents the basics of tree identification and tree inventory, and supervised the inventory, purchase of trees and shrubs, and the planting.

By this time our number had dwindled to eleven so we decided to offer another class. There were thirteen graduates of the class of 2001. To complete the twenty-hour volunteer requirement the class members developed three projects to benefit the community. One project was to develop a training program to teach the importance of avoiding root injury to trees through construction activities, utility trenching and lawn and garden activities. Another was to develop a training program to teach landscapers, homeowners and county employees how to correctly prune trees, especially crepe myrtles. The third was preparation of a tree inventory incorporating GPS and GIS technology with the goal of teaching citizens.

In Spring of 2003 we participated in America's Treeway Program, helping in the planting of seedlings and transplanting larger trees. Tree Stewards had helped in 1998 when this project was first begun.

In Spring of 2004 we were very happy to receive a commendation from the Williamsburg Area Council of Garden Clubs.

We presently have sixteen active members.

The volunteer work done by tree stewards--providing educational programs on tree planting and tree care, tree maintenance, and pruning--increases tree health and benefits the community by increasing awareness of the importance of trees.

Tree Stewards have participated in Reforestation Day programs in 2004 and 2005, helping the community to re-plant following the devastation of Hurricane Isobel.