NEONOW FILE PHOTO
Last year’s Christmas Trees will be this year’s mulch, thanks to a partnership between the city of Hermiston and RDO Equipment.
The city of Hermiston collected more than 200 Christmas trees and is working with RDO Equipment to turn them into mulch for the city’s parks.
Luke Norenberg, service manager for RDO, said the company’s employees enjoy the chance to work with the city on community projects.
“We appreciate our customers and we like giving back to our community,” he said.
The city collects the trees through the month of January at Butte Park next to the sprayground. This year’s collection of trees took about two hours to chip into mulch. The city’s Park and Recreation Department uses the mulch in the parks’ planter beds to reduce weeds and help keep moisture in the ground. The recycled trees add nutrients back into the soil. Weeds do not like the acidic pine needles making the much a very effective weed barrier.
“We just couldn’t do this tree recycle program without the help of RDO Equipment,” said Ruperto Garcia of the parks department. “This help keep the trees out of landfills.”
