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.