PRAIRIE CITY — Front Street in Prairie City is getting some much needed love.

The five-member Prairie City Beautification Committee will ultimately see fresh trees and colorful flowers line both sides of Front Street in the rural community. Tree planting began Wednesday, April 16, and will continue through the summer with adding deer- and drought-resistant vegetation and flowers before concluding in the fall with a second batch of trees planted on Front Street.

Solar lights, large, concrete trash receptacles and decorative rocks and boulders will complete the beautification effort. Sandy Murray is a member of the Prairie City Beautification Committee and said they look to plant 21 to 25 trees on both sides of Front Street in addition to flowers and other vegetation.

Fifteen of those trees were planted April 16 and April 18. The remaining 10 will be planted in the fall after the removal of tree stumps in the planters.

The trees will be planted with PVC pipe irrigation tubes buried next to them to help retain water.

The effort was funded with an $8,800 grant from the Ford Family Foundation. All the trees, flowers and drought-resistant plants were sourced from Better Blooms and Gardens, on Highway 26 between John Day and Prairie City.

Murray said the nursery went above and beyond in assisting the committee with the effort.

This is the second beautification project by Murray and other committee members.

“It started way back when — Donna Becker and I are two of the people that put the original trees in 30 years ago,” she said.

Murray said the trees were cared for but some died or were removed over time. She said the city also experienced a water shortage for a few years, leading to the idea that something needed to be done. Murray said the idea led to a conversation with the Prairie City Council about the empty tree planters.

She said the response was, “Well, here you go.” The blessing from the council led to the formation of a committee in February of last year.

Murray said she reached out to Redmond, Baker City, Heppner and La Grande for information about city trees, then the committee went through the list with the goal of not planting the same types of trees they had 30 years ago.

“We had planted flowering crab apples and flowering cherries — and for the first 10 years they didn’t produce any fruit,” she said. “Whether it was climate change or the maturity of the trees, then there was a problem because we had cherries and we had apples, and we had people complaining and it was just a mess.”

The committee eventually settled on two types of maple and a serviceberry variant for Front Street. Murray said the goal of the beautification effort is to perhaps be the catalyst for positive change in the community.

“I just feel — and the committee feels — that you put something beautiful out there and it changes attitudes,” she said. “It does make a difference and hopefully by making our Front Street beautiful and comfortable and inviting that it may start something. You’ve got to start somewhere and we’re starting with trees.”