Accolade elms draw compliments
The city of Gallup is done – at least for the moment – with the planting of dozens of accolade elms on the west side and along Historic Highway 66, and city parks and recreation workers are out on just about a daily basis making sure the plantings receive proper care.
“It’s one of our ongoing beautification projects,” Parks and Recreation Director Vince Alonzo recently explained. “The feedback we have gotten from the public has been very positive.”
Alonzo said exactly 230 of the accolade elm trees were planted from the McDonalds near Allison Road to the Allsups gas station and convenience store at the intersection of Highway 66 and Armand Ortega Boulevard. Both locales are major intersections on Gallup’s west end.
Alonzo said each elm tree costs approximately $120. Like the Parks workers, Alonzo checks on the trees daily, and said it took about two weeks for city workers to put the trees in the ground.
The elms are a hit with Gallup.
“I think they look wonderful,” City Councilor Fran Palochak said. “You do see them when you drive that area of 66. I like them.”
Alonzo said Parks and Recreation workers removed stretches of old and dead vegetation to make way for the trees.
“They look nice,” he said.
The accolade elm is a cross between Japanese and Chinese species. They grow into a vase-type shape, and are known to possess excellent drought tolerance, Alonzo said. The accolade elms eventually develop a yellowish color once fall sets in, according to outdoor plant websites.
“I think they look very, very good,” Martin Archuleta, a resident of the west side, said. “I haven’t seen these kinds of trees planted in the city ever. Since the city planted them, I have heard a lot of people say good things about them.”
Alonzo didn’t rule out planting the same kind of trees in other parts of the city.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent