Scott Jamison, vice president at Bartlett Tree Experts and cyclist extraordinaire, sent me this note yesterday:

Not sure if you are aware of this green industry fundraising event. I am riding for the first time. 600 miles on a bike in and around the mountains of Portland, OR, for 7 days. I hesitate to send you my blog link after reading your social media issue that arrived yesterday, but here it is anyway. Going to try and keep posting during the ride.

On Sunday, Scott and dozens other tree lovers will set out on a seven-day bicycle tour through the woods and mountains of Oregon as part of the Stihl Tour des Trees. The ride raises money for the TREE Fund, one of the leading tree research and advocacy organizations the green industry has. Since its founding 20 years ago, the ride has pulled in more than $5 million.

You can follow Scott’s blog here. He’s on Twitter, too.

The folks who do this ride are dedicated to the industry and to the sport. They’re spending a week in the saddle, pedaling nearly 100 miles a day. And just to roll up to the start line, they had to pony up at least $3,500 for the fund.

So to Scott and the rest of the riders, I say good luck. I’ll pray for sunshine and a seven-day tailwind.

Big Wooden Ball Project from Mike Leuis on Vimeo.

Here’s our round-up of cool stuff from the web. Check it out and have a great weekend. (And call your dad!)

• The coming mosquito invasion. (via @senskeblog)
• Church covers its nave with turfgrass for the queen.
• Economics: 100 years of consumer spending.
• Science: pH explained.
• Why people hate unkempt lawns.
• Above: What to do with those old stumps.

Here’s our weekly collection of stuff you should know about. Enjoy, and have a great three-day weekend.

• Homebuilders are more confident.
• Why trees matter.
• What you can do with two hours a day.
• A control freak’s guide to delegating. (via @jasoncupp)
• Listen in to my conversation with Chris Heiler on the GetSocial! Radio Show.
• Above: Our latest podcast – selling color with windowboxes.

What do you do when you’re proud of a job? Swingle, Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care makes and shares videos.  Here’s a clinic on how its crews removed fallen trees after high winds.

Snow Circles from Beauregard, Steamboat Aerials on Vimeo.

Here’s our weekly collection of cool stuff we found online. Enjoy!

• U.S. cities lose 4 million trees a year
• Write better Twitter headlines.
• Toilet-to-tap turn you off? It’s good enough for astronauts
• New rules for H-2B.
• These Mark Awards are pretty bad-ass.
• Where is the River Volga? What Tomas Edison asked potential hires in his interview process.
• Above: The making of snow circle art by Sonja Hinrichsen at Rabbit Ear Pass, Steamboat Springs, Colo. (via The Dirt)

When I was at CENTS last month, I attended a talk by James Urban on the science of urban soils. The soil underneath urban areas is getting a lot more attention these days, at least as much – if not more – than the concrete and steel above grade.

As Amy Biegelsen writes in the Atlantic:

Lately, though, the jungle has made a comeback as cities have begun investing in more ways to improve street trees and their soil. That’s partly thanks to growing enthusiasm for green infrastructure and landscape projects as economic development engines. It’s also due to federal regulations that require cities to draft and implement formal plans to keep storm water run-off from spreading pollutants and overburdening sewer systems. If rainwater can get back into the ground through by filtering through street tree soil, there’s less of it for the city to manage.

As any landscaper worth his salt knows, the surest way to guarantee the success of a plant is to guarantee the quality of hte soil it grows in.

For a good read on this, pick up Urban’s “Up by Roots,” where he outlines the basic techniques necessary to find, test and improve the soil in urban areas.

And check out the rest of the Atlantic article for an update on new systems that folks like Davey, Bartlett and other city-focused companies are using to ensure the urban canopy survives for the next generations of city dwellers.

PitchEngine: Create from PitchEngine on Vimeo.

Urban Forests = Cleaner, Cooler Air from ASLA on Vimeo.

This video from the American Society of Landscape Architects explains how trees and other green spaces fight air pollution, reduce the so-called “heat island effect” and generally make cities more livable.

The New York Times has a stunning slideshow of the trees left standing in Joplin, Mo., after tornadoes destroyed much of the town.

Is there a place you go to sit, think, look for inspiration? Turns out, sitting under trees is a popular place for this activity.

Author Richard Horan has written a book called “Seeds” that details his journey to find the trees that inspired famous authors. Here he talks about his concept and offers a slideshow of trees, including one from the property F. Scott Fitzgerald lived when he wrote “Tender in the Night,” one from Muhammad Ali’s childhood home and even a cypress still standing from when Thomas Jefferson lived at Monticello.