Forty-five new trees, many of them the California redwood, or sequoia, are newly planted alongside animal barns at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in honor of Arbor Day. The trees were donated earlier this month by Happy Valley resident and fair board member Frank Imhof. Imhof, who owns Imhof Tractor Service, even helped plant them.
Although Pleasanton has no specific Arbor Day activities planned, Parks and Community Services director Jim Wolfe said the city does have an ongoing tree planting program during months it’s not busy with sodding and mowing. This year, for example, from December to March Pleasanton planted more than 200 trees. Thanks to not having the weather extremes experienced elsewhere in the country, Wolfe said, “That’s an ideal time for us to plant and give the trees an opportunity to take root and flourish as we head into spring.”
Arbor Day’s history
Arbor Day has its … roots, so to speak … in 1870s Nebraska. J. Sterling Morton, the editor of Nebraska’s first newspaper, advocated planting trees as windbreaks, and, in his role as secretary of the Nebraska Territory, proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day.” According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, “Arbor Day” was officially proclaimed by Nebraska’s governor on March 12, 1874. In 1885, it was named a legal holiday in Nebraska and Morton’s birthday, April 22, was picked as the date for its permanent observance. On that first Arbor Day, it was estimated that more than one-million trees were planted across Nebraska’s barren, windswept plains.
Throughout the 1870s more states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day and, although many of them traditionally celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday in April, some states, like California, celebrate it on dates more suitable for successfully planting the state tree. This year, March 7-14 marked the state’s Arbor Day celebrations since March is the best month for planting redwoods, California’s state tree.
“Tree City USA”?
In Pleasanton, Arbor Day Foundation guidelines are being studied to determine what it would take to have Pleasanton declared a Tree City USA. Of four standards that must be met, Wolfe said Pleasanton doesn’t yet have a “tree care ordinance.” According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, the ordinance “should be flexible enough to fit the needs or circumstances of the particular community. … Ideally, it will provide guidance for planting, maintaining and removing trees from streets, parks and public places.”
Pleasanton already monitors and maintains city trees regularly and designates trees that have trunks 50 inches in diameter or bigger as “Heritage” trees, Wolfe said, but it does not currently have an actual tree care ordinance. His department is working on such an ordinance to take to city council. Wolfe said, “We would expect that to happen sometime this summer or fall.”
Those interested in reading about the Tree City USA program can request a free booklet by calling (402) 474-5655 or by e-mailing treecity@arborday.org.
Interested in joining the Arbor Day Foundation? Call (888) 448-7337 toll-free, or visit www.arborday.org. If you join, the Foundation will send you 10 small flowering or oak trees for free.
Students celebrate Arbor Day
Blake Braden, a second grade student at Donlon Elementary School, plants a redwood tree seedling in his backyard. Volunteers from the Pleasanton Garden Club talked to second grade students at all of the district’s schools from March 2-16 about the importance of trees and explained how the students could plant their own redwood seedlings. Alden Lane Nursery donated more than 2,000 seedlings to the district to give to every second grade student. This is the nursery’s eighth consecutive year donating seedlings. The redwood is California’s state tree and, because early March is the best time to plant them, California celebrates Arbor Day from March 7-14, although national Arbor Day is April 28.
