Happy Arbor Day, Saugus!

To commemorate this special observance, today would be a great day to plant a tree in this “Tree City” town

By Laura Eisener

Arbor Day is today, April 25! This is the special day set aside for planting trees, learning about trees and in general appreciating all kinds of trees! The celebration can last well beyond the day itself, and certainly there are many of us who stop and appreciate trees every day.  One recent event at the Saugus Public Library was the program “Terrific Trees: Arbor Day Story & Craft” – a nature craft and story workshop led by Joyce Rodenhiser on Wednesday at the Saugus Public Library.

Often garden trees are chosen for seasonal interest, such as flowers or fall foliage color, but there are many additional reasons to plant trees. The International Society of Arborists reminds everyone that trees have many environmental and economic benefits as well. Studies have shown that having trees nearby improves mental health by reducing depression, stress and anxiety. Neighborhoods with trees generally have reduced aggression, violence and crime in general. Nancy Prag, Saugus’ Tree Committee chairman, mentioned, “When I went to a tree city event in Haverhill years ago the presenter showed us maps of sections of Chicago that had been transformed with trees in many public areas and how the crime rate went down over time.”

Additional studies have indicated that this holds true independent of wealth among households nearby. Tree-lined streets and parks with trees are also known to increase property values and desirability of neighborhoods. Every schoolchild knows that the atmosphere is improved by oxygen released from leaves during photosynthesis.

Many countries all around the world celebrate their own version of Arbor Day, though they are not all in April. The chosen date is most often based on the best time for tree planting in their climate, so in parts of the world where the ground stays frozen longer, arbor day or tree planting day will usually be in May, as it is in Canada, while in tropical areas the issue is more likely to be weather, such as avoiding dry seasons for planting new trees. While we often think of planting trees in spring, they can also be planted in other seasons even in our climate – fall is also a great planting season, and depending on the root system, even summer can be a good planting time for us. Hot weather is not the best time to dig a tree out of the ground that you want to transplant, since as much as 90% of the small feeder roots, which take up water, are lost when the tree is dug up, but you can certainly plant a tree that is container-grown, or a balled and burlapped tree that had been dug from the ground in cooler weather and maintained by a nursery, during even the warmest months as long as it can be watered. Some towns near us already have outdoor water bans in place, but towns and cities that get their water from the Quabbin Reservoir, as Saugus does, much more rarely have water restrictions.

Mongolia, a north-central Asian country with a concerning lack of trees, actually holds two arbor days, one in spring and one in fall, and last year extended the event to the month of May, during which it was hoped that 30 million trees would be planted. According to the Mongolian News Agency, this was part of a nationwide reforesting initiative backed by the government. In the United States, the first official arbor day was started April 10, 1872, in Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton, and most states now observe it, although not always on that date. National Arbor Day is now officially recognized as the last Friday in April, and that is the date it is observed in Massachusetts. On or near the date, organizations, such as the Mass. Arborists’ Association and the International Society of Arborists, often hold events, such as tree pruning demonstrations, and many organizations hold tree planting events and educational programs.

The Arbor Day Foundation, which sends free trees to its members, also awards Tree City USA status to many towns and cities across the country that meet certain qualifications in regard to tree planting, preservation and education. Thanks in large part to the Saugus Tree Committee, Saugus has qualified as a Tree City for most of the last few decades.