Happy Arbor Day!

"Each generation takes the earth as trustees.  We ought to bequeath to posterity as many forests and orchards as we have exhausted and consumed."-  J. Sterling Morton

The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1874 , after proposal by J. Sterling Morton, a Nebraska pioneer and lover of nature.  He knew trees were needed to keep soil in place by serving as windbreakers, for fuel and building materials, and to provide shading from the sun.   So he encouraged planting trees, and it is estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day!

Over the years, Arbor Day has become a national holiday, with many states celebrating at different times to coincide with optimal tree-planting weather for their area. But whether Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday of April or another day, the idea is the same; support nature and beauty through planting trees.  

To learn more about Arbor Day, visit https://www.arborday.org/

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Trees provide many benefits and services for both people and other wildlife. They provide shelter and food for multiple species of birds, mammals, and insects.  Many useful products are provided for human use from lumber for building, wood to make baseball bats and rocking horses, and paper products.  Trees also improve habitat areas, reduce soil erosion, supply oxygen, and provide aesthetic beauty.

 Trees can be identified based on leaf characteristics, bark type, and flower color.

The structure of trees is fascinating and supports their functions.  As a tree grows, a new layer of wood is added to the trunk and limbs,  These rings each have two parts: early wood which grows in the wet, spring season, and late wood which forms during the slower growing season of summer.  These rings can offer insight into the climate of the area, and indicate disturbances such as flood or fire.  The ring sizes vary year to year based on growing conditions.  These tissues also draw nutrients and water for the tree up from the roots.

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In Ohio, there are many trees for us to enjoy!

(Ohio's state tree: Ohio Buckeye)

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Index of Ohio Trees from Ohio DNR Division of Forestry:

Alder, European Black
Arborvitae
Ash (All) (Blue, Green, White)
Aspen (All) (Bigtooth, Quaking)
Bald cypress
Basswood, American
Beech (All) (American, Blue)
Birch (All) (Black, River, Yellow)
Blackhaw
Boxelder
Buckeye (All) (Ohio, Yellow)
Buckthorn, Common
Burning Bush
Butternut
Buttonbush
Catalpa, Northern
Cherry, Black
Chestnut (All) (American, Chinese)
Chokeberry, Black
Coffeetree, Kentucky
Cottonwood, Eastern
Crabapple (All) (American, Sargent)
Cranberrybush, American
Cucumbertree
Dogwood (All) (Flowering, Silky)
Elm (All) (American, Slippery)
Fir, Balsam
Hackberry
Hawthorn (All) (Washington)
Hazelnut
Hemlock, Eastern
Hickory (All) (Bitternut, Shagbark, Shellbark)
Honeysuckle, Amur
Hophornbeam, American
Horsechestnut

Larch, Eastern
Locust (All) (Black, Honey)
Maidenhair Tree
Maple (All) (Red, Silver, Sugar)
Mulberry
Oak (All) (Black, Bur, Chestnut, Chinquapin, 
English, Pin, Red, Sawtooth, Scarlet,
 Shingle, Shumard, Swamp White, White)
Osage-Orange
Pawpaw
Persimmon
Pine (all) (Austrian, Loblolly, Pitlolly, Red, 
​Scotch, Virginia, White)
Plum, American
Redbud
Redcedar, Eastern
Rose, Rugosa
Sassafras
Serviceberry, Thicket
Spicebush
Spruce (all) (Colorado, Norway, White)
Sumac, Smooth
Sweetgum
Sycamore
Tree-of-Heaven
Tuliptree
Tupelo, Black
Viburnum, Arrowwood
Walnut, Black
Willow (all) (Black, Streamco)

*If interested in getting trees for your property, check with us here at Warren County SWCD each spring for our Annual Tree Seedling Sale 

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This Arbor Day, if you are planting trees, click here for some quick guidelines to help your trees grow successfully!

tree_planting_guidelines.pdf
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Once your plant a tree, think about registering it with Taking Root, a collaborative, broad-based campaign to address the current historic loss of our region’s tree canopy by planting trees, better managing our local forests, promoting the many benefits of healthy trees, and fostering a sense of stewardship among individuals and communities.    http://www.takingroot.info/

"He that plants trees loves others beside himself." - Thomas Fuller

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Planting Trees Is a Virtuous Act: 
His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

"Trees are extremely important. A healthy tree purifies the air and supplies oxygen for living beings to breathe. It harmonizes the elements and increases life expectancy. Its shade provides a refreshing place to rest. It brings rain at the right time. It nourishes crops and livestock, and balances the temperature. It contributes to an attractive landscape and
continually replenishes its surroundings. It brings about natural developments in the spheres of education, economics and so forth. The drawbacks of a polluted environment include a decline in the pure, cool qualities of the oceans and lakes, so that the creatures dwelling in those places are disturbed. The loss of vegetation and forests causes degeneration in the Earth's nourishment. Rain does not fall when it is needed. Unprecedented fierce storms rage. There are many disadvantages. Planting and nurturing trees are virtuous acts. It is beneficial to plant various types of trees. In particular, fruit trees provide nourishment predominantly for humans, as well as benefit to many other sentient creatures. They help to improve health. The whole of society needs to take an interest in
planting various kinds of trees and flowers around monasteries, schools, offices, hospitals,
factories, restaurants, hotels and residences, on both sides of thoroughfares. May the attractive and healthy forests be increased in all the one hundred directions! May sentient creatures be freed from untimely death and live happy lives!"

From a message that was delivered on Tibetan Democracy Day, September 2, 1994.

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To learn more about trees or find tree activities/projects/lesson plans, check out Project Learning Tree!