Central Park

The Daily Plant : Friday, April 26, 2002

FROM OAKS TO ELMS

"...let us endeavor then by our words on "Arbor Day" - and all other opportune occasions - to so embellish the world with plant life, trees, flowers and foliage, as to make our earth homes approximate to those which the prophets, poets and seers of all ages have portrayed as the Home in Heaven."

Excerpt from the first Arbor Day speech by founder J. Sterling Morton

Trees are one of nature’s greatest inventions. From the Giant Sequoia to the Weeping Willow, from the Redwoods to the Palms, trees give us many things that both enrich and nourish life. Arbor Day is about appreciating these wonderful additions to our planet and planting new trees to sustain their cycle of life and our own.

Arbor Day finds its roots in the most unlikely of places. Upon his arrival in Nebraska pioneer, businessman, and politician J. Sterling Morton noticed the barren and deserted land and had a different vision. In 1872 as Secretary of Nebraska, Morton proposed the idea for Arbor Day (an idea that was ratified by the state’s governor two years later). On April 10, 1874 over one million trees were planted on the first official Arbor Day celebration. For ten years, Arbor Day was only celebrated by a few states in the Union, but in 1882 members of every state practiced Arbor Day for first time. Since 1882 the last Friday in April has been Arbor Day nationwide, and is now practiced worldwide as well.

Trees are an incredibly important part of our ecosystem. They can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife; trees are also a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and beautifying our communities. Planting trees and other plant life should not just be our calling just on Arbor Day, but everyday.

Here are a few easy ways to celebrate Arbor Day. If each of us does just one, the world will be a better and more beautiful place.

• Start a tree seed in a cup or a seedling in a pot. If you have no place to set it, give it to someone who does and then watch it grow together.

• Celebrate Arbor Day in a personal way by planting a tree yourself. It is an act of optimism and kindness, a labor of love and a commitment to stewardship.

• Encourage neighborhood organizations to hold block parties and get their members to adopt and care for street trees in front of their homes.

Perhaps you feel that nurturing your own tree will take too much effort. There is a list of 9 nationally recognized programs run by the National Arbor Day Foundation on their website (http://www.arborday.org).

So go out and plant a tree, or hug a tree, or just sit under a tree and appreciate the shade it is giving on a hot day. However you decide to celebrate this Arbor Day, have fun, and remember that without trees the world be not only an uglier place to live, but perhaps even an uninhabitable one.