Ashe Mountain Times

By Travis Birdsell

thegardenthymes@gmail.com

The first Arbor Day was held in Nebraska on April 10, 1872.  It was the concept of Julius Sterling Morgan, who also served as Secretary of Agriculture to Grover Cleveland.  The idea became a legal Nebraska state holiday in 1885.  The concept, a day dedicated to tree planting and increasing awareness of the importance of trees was wildly successful.  The concept began to spread from state to state until it was eventually federally recognized in 1970, President Richard Nixon declared the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day. 

So in the spirit of increasing awareness, here are a few facts about the importance of trees. 

A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four.

One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles.

According to the last forest inventory, there are almost 247 billion trees over one inch in diameter in the U.S.

The shade and wind buffering provided by trees reduces annual heating and cooling costs by 2.1 billion dollars.

You may be asking yourself, "What can I do on Arbor Day?"  Don't be afraid to take the opportunity to be a little selfish.  Look around your yard and take an inventory.  Is there a side of your house that could use some cooling shade from the summer heat?  Some options for shade trees are red maples, sugar maples, pin oaks, willow oaks, white ash, or green ash.  Do frigid winter winds batter your house? Some options for windscreen plants include green giant, emerald green arborvitae, hemlock, white pine or Norway spruce.  Or maybe you want to reap the "fruits" of your labors.  In which case, look at planting a sweet cherry, pear or heritage apple tree. 

Arbor Day is April 29.

For more information on selecting specific tree species and planting advice please email (thegardenthymes@gmail.com)