Using Trees - Add/Remove Form

This page describes how to use the "Trees Add/Remove Form" to update either the Trees in Place Master List, or the Trees Removed Master List. The Form was created to give Medford Leas staff an easy way to pass on information when trees are added or removed. The Form is only accessible to those using a medfordleas.net account. Google Forms automatically creates a spreadsheet and then adds the new information from the form to it. The procedure on this page explains what to do with the data from that spreadsheet. For a brief description of how to use the Form, go to this page.

Using the spreadsheet from the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form" to update Master Spreadsheets for a REMOVED TREE

1. Open the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" spreadsheet. Check column G "Is this tree being aded or removed?" If it's for a removal continue, otherwise skip ahead.
Remove the rows for this tree in the “Medford Campus Trees - Trees in Place” master list spreadsheet.
Add that information to the “Medford Campus Trees - Removed” spreadsheet master list.
If there is a tree sign, add that information to the “Tree Signs in Nature Center” list.
Put the tree sign in the tub in the Nature Center. Make sure it is in numberical order with the signs alread in the tub.
In the last column, of the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" - "Master Data Bases Updated?", enter Yes or a check or something to indicate you completed this.
Repeat for any other removed trees. Now you are done with a tree removal.

Using the spreadsheet from the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form" to ADD TREES to the Master Trees in Place spreadsheet

Open the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" spreadsheet. Check column G "Is this tree being aded or removed?" If it's for an addition, continue.

Note: The following steps are used to verify the precise location of the tree. This is necesary since the location entered in the "Trees Add/Remove Form" may have been just a description, or at best location information from the metadata in a photo, which can be close but not always precise.

Make a temporary spreadsheet using "Template spreadsheet for creating Maps", First make a copy of the spreadsheet and re-name the copy with something relevant (e.g. Tree Additions From AddRemove Form June 2024). Copy and paste the three columns starting with the tree's Common Name from the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" spreadsheet into the renamed temporary spreadsheet.

If longitude and latitude information is included in the Location column, copy it into the separate Latitude - Initial and Longitude - Initial columns. If the Latitude and Longitude information is not included, check to see if there is a photo linked from the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" or the "If you have files, photos..." spreadsheets for that tree. If there is a photo of the tree available, check the metadata of the photo for the location information and copy it into the latitude and longitude columns of the temporary spreadsheet. See this page for help on how to determine location data from a photo.

If there is no explicit latitude and longitude information, just leave those columns blank and continue.

The next step is to use the temporary spreadsheet with location data, to make a temporary map which will enable you to find the precise location of the tree(s). You will use the Google My Map Template with Grids and Courts template for this.

Open Google My Map Template with Grids and Courts make a copy, and re-name it to something relevant (e.g. Tree Additions From AddRemove Form June 2024).

Click on Add layer, name the layer "Trees", click on Import, then Google Drive. In the Search box, type the name of the temporary spreadsheet. Click the file box to select it, then click Insert. In the pop up box, click on the appropriate Latitude and Longitude boxes and then Continue. Finally, click on Common Name for the title of the markers. Now your trees will appear on the map along with Grid information.

In the resulting Map of the trees, choose a tree or group of trees if they are close together and expand the view as much as possible. Make a screenshot of the area where the tree(s) are. Make sure that there are physical reference points like buildings, other trees, roads, etc. visible to help you precisely locate the tree(s) under question. Print the screenshot and take it on a clipboard to the area along with a white pen (shows up better on satellite view). Use the pen to record the exact location relative to other landmarks.

The actual position of the trees in this case were ten to twenty feet away from the initial location information. This is a good illustration of the inaccuracy of the GPS systems used in smart phones. Note that we can know tell what Grid the two trees are in. We will use this infomation later.

While you are at the tree, take a photo.

The next step will be to go back to the temporary My Map on your computer, and edit the markers to reflect the actual observed location and then copy those latitude and longitude values.

To illustrate, click on one of the trees you have in the screenshot. This will open the pop-up window for the tree on the map. Click on the pencil icon at the bottom of the window to enable editing. Now click on the marker and drag it to the correct location. Click on it again to enable the pop-up window. Now we will see the correct (as correct as we are going to get) location. Copy the values for latitude and longitude. Note which Grid the tree is located in.

Now we have the original information from the Add/Remove Form, plus the precise latitude and longitude information including the Grid number where the tree is located. The next and final step, is to enter all this information into the "Medford Campus Trees - Trees in Place" spreadsheet. An interrelated step is to enter and identify any photos into the proper albums in Google Photos.

This speadsheet theoretically contains all the trees that are actually in the arboretum. Again theoretically, normally surveys are done at least every five years to keep this information up to date. Also, not all information available (Fall, 2024) has been entered in the database.

Put the information in the Master Spreadsheet

Open the "Medford Campus Trees - Trees in Place" spreadsheet and scroll to the end. Make sure the Tree Number has been incremented to supply a new number for the tree. Use the data from the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" as well as the location data you have just collected to fill in the cells for the new tree.

Some data, like Height, DBH, Spread, Rating, etc. may not be available.

Before entering links to any photos you may have, they must be added to the approptiate Grid Albums in Google Photos for the arboretum@medfordleas.net account.

Add photos to Google Photos

If you have any photos of the new tree(s) the next step is to place them in Google Photos for the arboretum account and then add the link to this photo to the entry in the "Medford Campus Trees - Trees in Place" master list.

First, note the Grid that the tree is located in, then open the Album view in Google Photos. Search for an album for this Grid. If one does not exist, create a new one for this Grid. Open the album and drag in the photos that you have for this Grid.

Select the new tree in the Grid album and click on the circled 'i" to view the Info pane (if it is not already visible). Enter the tree common name and the tree ID Number. Next click on the share icon and then at the botttom of the list click on "create link."

Copy this link and paste it into the photos column in the "Medford Campus Trees - Trees in Place" master list.

Now you have completed the process of adding a tree from the "Arboretum Trees - Add/Remove Form (Responses)" spreadsheet to the "Medford Campus Trees - Trees in Place" master list.

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