Current Status of the Orchard-

The Hidden Springs Orchard was first conceptualized in 1998. Since the original conception of the plan there have been numerous changes, deletions and plantings that simply never took place, this inconsistency has left many questions regarding exactly what is going on out there.

In 2005 a great attempt was made to involve the community in the orchard to help with its growth and sustainability. Many of the ideas and plans related to this movement, were implemented and remain in place today. However it is clear to anyone driving down Seaman's Gulch road that the orchard in serious need of further care and that means something has to change. With the 2005 adopt-a-tree policy it was written that the residents would receive some educational direction related to their tree, that the area would be mowed, watered and dormant oil spray applied to protect against insect hatching in the spring. Other than those items the residents would be responsible for the health of the tree. This was a great concept and certainly has not been abandoned; however it is clear that interest has waned and greater involvement by HSTA is needed.

In July of 2009 HSTA hired, Idaho Tree Preservation to come out and perfonn a preljmjnary assessment of the trees in the Orchard, [as well as those in the parkways along Hidden Springs] The report created by ITP pinpointed several problems with the trees in the orchard. The major problem was determined to be a lack of nutrients in the soil, which caused survival mode conservative growth in the trees. This of course has made the trees susceptible to disease, insect damage and sun damage, all of which have created an ongoing downward trend for the trees. The lack of nutrients in the soil can be attributed to two things, 1) the excessive dumping of effluent water onto the orchard land and 2) the lack of consistent fertilization to the area.

The dumping of excessive effluent water onto the land will be stopped in the spring of 2010 and the correct amount of water applied to the land. Too much water caused overly wet, swampy conditions, which limited the need for the tree to establish an extensive root system. Furthermore the excessive water leaches the soil of nutrients and organic matter and supports fast growing weeds that can utilize the lower nutrient content and have plenty of water to grow quickly and invasively. The lack of an extensive root system also makes the trees easily damaged, subject to being tipped over, slumping etc. It has been well established that the soil in the Dry Creek: Valley is hard-packed, nutrient poor high desert soil that with some care and manipulation can be supportive of agricultural crops. The key point here is that in order for the soil to support growth outside of the native high desert plant palette the soil must be supplemented in the fonn of fertilization. Although the residents who adopted a tree and the developer had the best intentions for the trees, the proper amount of fertil.izer and the proper application of fertilizer to the orchard have been lacking.