Garden Column for the Salisbury Post

Darrell Blackwelder

March 24, 2005

      A big draw at a statewide conference I attended last week was the amount marketing information. As I gathered reams of printed information, I pondered as to how many trees it took to produce this conference.  Unfortunately, these workshop preparers hadn’t been a part of the Rowan County Master Gardener Arbor Day program. They would have known about the importance of trees using less paper and providing more web sites.

Master Gardener Volunteers presented Arbor Day programs in the week earlier this month. As a part of the program, Master Gardener Volunteers taught students about growth and the benefits of trees. All students received the state tree, a loblolly pine seedling, donated by the Rowan County Master Gardner Association.

 The annual Master Gardener project was spearheaded by Rowan County Master Gardener volunteers: Pat Cheek, Ann Meredith, Virginia Kluttz, Joanne Johnson and Jim and Nona Morris. Over 1700 3^rd grade students and 85 teachers including private schools participated in this educational program.

Arbor Day in North Carolina is always the first Friday following of March 15; so Arbor Day in North Carolina this year was March 18^th. Arbor Day is differs from state to state; however, National Arbor Day is always the last Friday in April.

 In 1872 J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. This holiday, called Arbor Day, was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska.

Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. Trees 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 a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and beautify our community. Trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal. For more information about Arbor Day, visit the web site at webwww.arborday.org