"Tiny Forests" could help lessen flood damage in University City

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Residents in University City living near the River Des Peres have been holding their breath during recent downpours, hoping to avoid a repeat catastrophic flooding in 2022.

One proposal to ease flooding along the channel is the creation of "Tiny Forests", which is a forest that planted in a small area, usually up to the size of a tennis or basketball court.

The concept of "Tiny Forests" can be traced back to Japan in the 1970s, but have since gain growing popularity since 2015, with cities like the Cambridge area in Massachusetts and in Seattle having created "Tiny Forests"

"The soil is prepared very deeply so the trees can grow fast and the trees are planted very densely so you can get a maximum benefit from this tiny space," said Connie Mueller with the University City Green Practices Commission on KMOX Wednesday.

Mueller says the thought process of building a "Tiny Forest" is to counteract all the cement that is causing runoff in the area. All the pavement in urban areas causes run-off where the water has nowhere to go, but with densely packed trees, it's a different story.

"A paved parking lot would have total runoff," said Mueller. "Since we've had a lot of water problems in University City, this seems like a really good thing. Native species will have really, really deep roots as they grow. They get deeper and deeper, they absorb a lot of water into the ground, certainly much more than turf grass."

Mueller says to build a "Tiny Forest" they are being mindful of what kind of trees to plant as well.

"We are going to use native Missouri trees because they grow the best in our fickle Missouri weather," said Mueller. "So in Missouri we're basically oak hickory forest. So we'll concentrate on the various species of oaks, especially."

"But also we'll have shrubs, smaller trees, river birches, button bush, things like that, but concentrating on native species so they'll have the maximum amount of success in their growth of the forest."

Mueller says that there is land right near the River Des Peres in University City that is available that will be perfect for the community-based project. Mueller also says first forest that they are planning will be a pilot project and then see how it goes.

The University City community is invited to talk about the "Tiny Forest" how they can help reduce flooding on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the U-City Library Auditorium.