arbor day project summary 2016 - bartow county, georgia...bartow celebrates ga. arbor day with...
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Two thousand seedlings are given away annually as part of Georgia’s Arbor Day
(always the third Friday of February) Seed-lings need this early start as trees in GA
need time to become established before a season of summer heat). KBB’s program has grown to enjoy a solid partnership with Bartow’s Master Gardeners. Bartow MG’s volunteer to pick up and distribute seedlings from
five (5) locations chosen for their accessibility to citizens county wide: Cartersville City Hall, Doug’s Place Restaurant in the City of Emerson, Frank Moore Judicial Building (Bartow County Courthouse), the Dollar
General Store in the City of Kingston and United Community Bank in the City of Adairsville. KBB always purchases two
varieties (a thousand of each) to stress the importance of diversity in the urban forest. All
our seedlings are purchased from Georgia Forestry for the best viability in our state. KBB hopes to convey the message
that trees are valuable. Quote from
www.gfc.state.ga.: “From a broad ecosystem perspective,
trees and forests provide billions of dollars worth of nature's ben-
efits to people with no direct costs.”
Green Highlands environmental club “Green
Highlands” has be-come a regular
participant as well, giving out seedlings
to students and educating on the
importance of trees. Trees have not only been a big part of
environmental issues but are linked to so-cial ones and eco-
nomic ones as well. “Green Highlands”, on the GA Highlands Cartersville Campus, offered
a free lunchtime screening of Taking Root. This film tells the dramatic story of Kenyan
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a
nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy—a movement for which this charismatic woman
became an iconic inspiration. http://takingrootfilm.com/
PROJECT SUMMARY 2016 Arbor Day
Location: Bartow County
Courthouse (Frank Moore Judicial)
- students from Cartersville First
Presbyterian Church make their annual
pilgrimage to receive a free tree seed-
ing from Master Gardener volunteers.
Location: Dollar General in Kingston
allows a portion of their street front to
be a location with high visibility.
Location: Doug’s Place in Emerson
provides space in their front lobby for
tree seedling giveaway
Location: City of Cartersville City Hall
Bartow celebrates Ga. Arbor Day with
seedling giveaways Featured
11 Feb 2016
Written by Marie Nesmith
Striving to bolster the county’s tree canopy, Keep Bartow Beautiful will oversee tree seedling
giveaways on Georgia’s Arbor Day.
Purchased from the Georgia Forestry Commission, the 2,000 seedlings will be available to the
public Feb. 19 at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. Starting at 9
a.m., Bartow County Master Gardeners will hand out white dogwood and catalpa saplings at
Cartersville City Hall, 10 N. Public Square, Cartersville; Doug’s Restaurant, 696 Ga. Highway
293 S.E., Emerson; Frank Moore Administration and Judicial Center, 135 W. Cherokee Ave.,
Cartersville; Kingston City Hall, 30 W. Main St., Kingston; and United Community Bank, 7400
Highway 140, Adairsville.
“I’d like everyone to understand what could happen if we don’t plan carefully to plant or replace
trees whenever possible,” Keep Bartow Beautiful Programs Director Missy Phillips said. “Even
though you may only have a front or backyard in which to keep a tree, you plus your neighbor,
plus the guy down the street and the family on the corner down from him, who plant and
maintain trees can benefit, not just your small piece of the world, but potentially benefit the
entire world, especially if this is multiplied the world over.
“Trees are among the oldest, largest and most significant organisms on our planet. No wonder
they play such an incredibly vital role in our planet’s natural cycles, keeping our planet a
hospitable habitat in which we are able to live. Without trees, we could easily have only hot, dry
and unproductive lands. A 2005 study by NASA has expressed data that indicates detrimental
rainfall changes for the United States during major agricultural seasons that occur as a result of
extensive deforestation. New York City has quantified the benefits of maintaining their 24
percent land coverage. They have estimated an annual energy cost reduction [of] $28 million and
that, for every $1 invested, New York street trees return $5.60 in benefits. It’s not hard to make
an argument that difficulty and poverty will follow after the destruction of significant tree
canopy cover.”
With this year’s selections, Arbor Day participants will be able to obtain spring blooming
saplings.
“People love, love, love their dogwoods here, and they are a lovely and reliable understory tree,
taking a light and graceful look when planted under larger trees like oaks or pines,” said Sheri
Henshaw, executive director of Keep Bartow Beautiful. “They can also handle full sun, although
that is not where they perform best. They also fit well into most any size yard and, as natives to
the Southeast, establish themselves easily into the landscape without looking too exotic or out of
place.
“Catalpa, for me, is a ‘fun’ tree, in that one of the primary characteristics is they establish these
‘webs’ that are home to great fishing bait in the form of sphinx moth caterpillars. For fishermen
with room in their yards to raise their own live worms, you can’t beat this tree. Just plant it at the
edges of your yard. The caterpillars are tough-skinned and juicy, and can even be frozen and
thawed for winter fish bait. They can almost totally defoliate a tree, twice a year, but it doesn’t
seem to do any real serious harm to the life of the tree, only the appearance. Fishing is a big deal
here, and I can see people wanting to test out these wigglers for themselves through a supply
right from their backyards. However, the caterpillars can be prevented for those who want a
lovely ornamental tree with unusual seed pods that is also a Southern native.”
With Georgia recognizing Arbor Day in February, the celebration coincides with Bartow’s
preferred tree planting time.
“There are nine different ‘Hardiness Zones’ for plants in the U.S. alone, so one planting day for
the entire United States just would not be ideal, as freezing temperatures vary so much,”
Henshaw said. “Each state was given a state Arbor Day based on those zones and when it is best
to plant for successful establishment of a young, healthy tree sapling. For Georgia, we are mostly
in Zone 8. That means that our annual average low temperatures range mostly from 20 to 10
degrees Fahrenheit for the lows. It means we can plant trees fairly early, in mid- to late February,
as soon as the ground is thawed enough to dig.
“The important part of planting a young seedling like those we give out, from Georgia Forestry
Commission, is that we are trying to establish root growth first, to help support the flush of
leaves that will come on with the spring rains. The roots are nice and warm underground, once
properly placed and planted, and most seedlings will thrive with all that winter precipitation by
sending out strong young roots to take up that moisture. The winter plantings also give them a
boost to make it through a hot, and possibly dry, summer, although watering weekly is always
recommended for new plantings. A tree planted in spring, for example, would have to struggle
with establishing both roots and leafy branches at the same time, and then also get hit with hot,
sunny days with little water. It’s just like picking out the right time of year to paint your house,
some things are just much harder, but not impossible, when you look at all the issues involved,
and the benefits gained from doing things a certain way.”
Once again, KBB will team up with Bartow County’s Master Gardeners, who will lend their
expertise on the subject of tree planting.
“The Bartow Master Gardeners are great partners,” Henshaw said. “They have all been trained
well by Paul Pugliese, our local UGA Extension Agent, through the six-week Master Gardener
required education and coursework, and then provide an additional 40 hours a year in education
and volunteer hours to maintain that Master Gardener status. These folks are a mix of both
hobbyists and professionals, but they all love what they do and do what they love — promote
gardening and good garden practices.
“If anyone has questions about a plant, these folks can answer it, and they field a multitude of
questions as they hand out our trees. They are there to instruct on proper tree planting techniques,
but they also can answer other gardening questions, too. Keep Bartow Beautiful simply could not
do this without them. Keep Bartow Beautiful provides the healthy young seedlings, mostly
natives grown in Georgia that we purchase through the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the
Master Gardeners provide the education to help ensure they survive. The volunteers really turn
out for this, despite sometimes rough weather, which allows us to offer multiple sites throughout
the community as locations for convenient pickup of free trees.”
In addition to the seedling giveaways, Henshaw also noted several other Arbor Day offerings.
“We have some other programs that will take place with the Arbor Day event — Green
Highlands is offering a free noon lunchtime screening of ‘Taking Root’ on the Georgia
Highlands Cartersville campus,” Henshaw said. “Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace
Prize for her ... efforts to replant trees in her native land, creating the Green Belt Movement and
changing the way of life for her region.
“The documentary is highly recommended and inspiring. And Keep Bartow Beautiful will
provide education and tree seedlings for Cartersville Presbyterian and Sam Jones [Memorial]
United Methodist pre-school program students the following week. We hope that folks will take
in all that is offered, see the documentary, pick up a tree from one of our locations and plant with
a child to teach them the power and beauty of trees.”
Another Arbor Day celebration will be underway Feb. 19 at the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic
Site, 813 Indian Mounds Road in Cartersville. Starting at 2 p.m., the Georgia Forestry
Commission will partner with the Etowah Indian Mounds to disperse a limited number of free
red cedar and dogwood trees.
For more information about the Etowah Indian Mound’s Georgia Arbor Day Tree Giveaway, call
770-387-3747 or visit www.GeorgiaStateParks.org. Further details about the Keep Bartow
Beautiful offerings can be obtained by visiting www.bartowga.org/kbb or calling Phillips at 770-
383-7399.
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