Alachua County on Friday celebrated Florida Arbor Day, a day designated to encourage the community to plant trees.
“Every tree we plant is like a promise to the next generation,” Alachua County Arborist Lacy Holtzworth said. “They’re going to inherit a new landscape that’s going to be hospitable.
The event that takes place annually on the third Friday of January was hosted by the Alachua County Arboriculture Program, and it was held in the afternoon at Wilson Robinson Park in Archer.
About 70 people attended, and together they were able to plant 12 trees around the park.
The main agenda for the celebration included a tree planting demonstration, an opportunity for volunteers to help plant trees, a tree tour led by arborists and an option for attendees to take home a fruit tree.
Holtzworth began with a speech, giving insight on how far the Arboriculture Program has come. Then, she gave a breakdown on how many trees have been planted through the program and for how many hours the community has volunteered.
Holtzworth also used this time to thank the volunteers for not only showing up for Arbor Day, but continuing in year-round efforts to plant trees.
“Volunteers are a big component of the Arbor Day celebration,” Holtzworth said. “They’re [planting trees] because they care about the future.”
Afterward, Holtzworth led guests to an area in the park where she gave a demonstration on how to plant a tree. Holtzworth explained the planting process as she went through all the steps, and she also provided additional facts and tips about arboriculture.
After the informative demonstration, Holtzworth had volunteers split into groups to begin planting a tree of their own in designated areas around the park. Volunteers grabbed shovels and began to dig shallow holes to plant the young trees.
In addition to tree planting, three county arborists led a tree tour through the nearby cemetery. This tour gave guests information about how to identify specific trees, and it also served as a Q&A session between guests and arborists.
County Forester and Landscape Inspector Jessica Hong was among the arborists leading the tour. This was Hong’s second time participating in the county’s Arbor Day celebration.
Some species of trees that surrounded the cemetery included southern magnolias, live oaks, laurel oaks and pine varieties, according to Hong.
Hong said that the tree tour was one of the ways that the program hoped to bring in more community engagement, and that they plan to build on this segment in the future.
Holtzworth emphasized that although the quantity of trees planted is an aspect of this program, she wants to focus on the quality of trees and planting the trees where they are most needed in the community. Holtzworth said this would include planting trees in parks, schools among other public locations.
“What we’re trying to do is plant trees where they will actually benefit people,” Holtzworth said.
Hong emphasized how community was central to this event.
“My favorite thing is being here with community and helping Lacy with her tree planting program,” Hong said. “We saw a mixed group of people today.”
Hong also added how pleased she was to see families come together to celebrate the event and solidify the longevity of this tree planting program.
“I think it’s really important we are planting a tree now, to be able to spread that information to the younger generation,” Hong said. “You could plant a tree with your kid, and over time you could see how it grows.”
Arbor Day has seen longevity not only statewide but nationwide, with a history tracing back as far as 1872 in Nebraska. Arbor Day began when a man by the name of Julius Sterling Morton proposed a day dedicated to planting trees to Nebraska’s State Board of Agriculture. After the approval of the resolution, an estimated one million trees were planted on April 10, 1872.
Florida’s Arbor Day was officially established in 1886. Every state across the country celebrates Arbor Day, although some states, including Florida, have designated dates that correspond to more ideal weather conditions and veer from the National Arbor Day, which occurs on the last Friday of April.
Aside from just the one day out of the year designated to planting trees, Holtzworth said the county’s arboriculture program also holds monthly tree-planting events that are open to the community.