Trees, Weeds & Landscape

Tree City

The city has historically been a tree city since the 1850s when lumber mills were built on the Rum River in Anoka during the heyday of logging from the Mississippi River up the Rum River to Mille Lacs Lake. From 1858 until the early 1900’s, the logs flowed endlessly. The township/city hired a wood inspector to monitor and inspect all the lumber the town produced, which we can assume helped build Minneapolis and St. Paul.

As the city grew in size and stature, city crews and its citizens planted hundreds of trees on its boulevards and in its parks. However, eventually, the city had to deal with the devastation of Dutch Elm disease from the later 1960s to the present.

Accomplishments

Anoka has been very active in keeping and maintaining its urban forest and continues to emphasize tree planting, maintenance, disease control and proper arboricultural standards and management. 

Because of City Council and resident concern for its urban forest and environment, Anoka is in its 40th year for receiving the Tree City U.S.A. award from the National Arbor Day Foundation in Lincoln, Nebraska. We are all very proud of this award which recognizes our city’s success.

Arbor Day 2022 - Tree Planting Event

 Help us celebrate Arbor Day in Anoka by participating in our Community Tree Planting event on Saturday, May 7 from 8:30am - Noon.

Volunteers must be at least 14 year of age or older.  We have a goal to plant 75-100 trees in 3 hours on the city's boulevards.  This winter, the city removed nearly 125 ASH trees from the boulevards. These trees were showing significant signs of Emerald Ash Borer infestation and were deemed to be a hazard to the public.  Our goal is to replace 100 of these trees on Saturday May 7. 

To volunteer, please complete the Tree Planting Registration form and submit via email. If you would like to register a group please contact Tessa at 763-576-2980. 

Event Details: 

• Meet at Rudy Johnson Park (611 Polk Street)  at 8:30am  for brief instruction. 
• Small lunch to follow at noon (hotdog, chips, water) at Rudy Johnson Park. 
• For their safety, volunteers are asked to be 14 years of age or older.  The majority of trees to be planted will be in the boulevard along city streets. Volunteers will be given an orange safety vest to wear during the event. 
• Please wear long sleeves/pants and closed toed shoes. 
• Bring work or garden gloves.
• Please bring a spade shovel. The holes will be pre-dug, but volunteers will need to fill in the hole
• Anyone interested in volunteering in encouraged to pre-register.