Texas State Arbor Day is Friday
Image courtesy of University Park
This Friday, November 6, is Texas State Arbor Day, an event intended to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate the benefits of trees. This year, Bonick Landscaping is the proud sponsor of Arbor Day in University Park, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary as a designated Tree City USA community.* The celebration will be held in Curtis Park from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and will include a tree planting and remarks from City leaders. University Park Elementary School students will attend and each child will be given a seedling to plant at home.
History of Arbor Day
According to the Arbor Day Foundation website, Arbor Day originated in Nebraska and was founded by Julias Sterling Morton, a pioneer who had moved from Detroit to Nebraska, which at the time was a treeless plain. Morton was a journalist and became editor of Nebraska’s first newspaper. He used this forum to provide agricultural information to fellow pioneers who missed their trees and needed them for windbreaks, fuel, building materials and shade from the hot prairie sun. Later, as secretary of Nebraska, Morton introduced legislation to the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture for observance of a tree-planting day and a resolution was approved and the Board designated April 10, 1872 as the first Arbor Day. More than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.
Image courtesy of Arbor Day Foundation.
Soon other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. By 1920, more than 45 states and territorial possessions were celebrating Arbor Day. Now observed by all 50 states, the last Friday in April is National Arbor Day, the day most commonly set aside for state observances.
Texas State Arbor Day
According to the Texas Forestry Association, Texas first began observing Arbor Day in 1889. Like most states, Texas celebrated Arbor Day on the last Friday in April until May 2013 when legislation went into effect to recognize the first Friday in November as Texas Arbor Day. This change was made in recognition of the fact that the optimal time to plant trees is in the late fall they have time to establish a strong root system. (When trees are planted in the spring, the roots are “competing” with sprouts and leaves for valuable nutrients that promote growth.)
The annual state celebration of Arbor Day is held in a different city each year. This year it will be held at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at College Station as a tribute to George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, and his leadership in growing healthy, sustainable urban forests through the America the Beautiful Act.
Image courtesy of University Park
Tree City USA Communities*
Tree City USA is an Arbor Day Foundation program in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Urban and Community Forestry, and the National Association of State Foresters. Established in 1976, the program provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees. To achieve Tree City USA status, cities must meet four core standards of sound urban forestry management: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrating Arbor Day. Texas currently has 84 cities with Tree City USA status. University Park is celebrating its 10th year as an official Tree City.
For over 30 years, Bonick Landscaping, has served Dallas area clients with the highest standards looking for out-of-the-ordinary luxury landscape design and pools by offering the best in service, workmanship, and plantings. Services include hardscape and landscape design, pool designs, pool construction and installation, estate management, lawn care services and garden maintenance, pool maintenance, and more. For discerning clients in Dallas who want to express their own distinctive style through their landscaping, Bonick Landscaping can help you realize your dream. Call us at 972-243-9673 or visit our website at www.bonicklandscaping.com.