Above: The Arbor Day Foundation offers guidance on the appropriate location for planting trees on your property. (image from arborday.org)
Today is Arbor Day. The annual proclamation by the Select Board states:
we urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote the well- being of this and future generations.
For readers who didn’t realize that Arbor Day would fall on April 26th, it’s unlikely that you’ll rush out to plant a tree today. But you can honor the day by making plans to support the Town’s tree hugging efforts.
Scroll down for information on steps you can take.
For its part, the Town will be planting a tree in Fay Memorial Park donated by Shrubs & Trees. According the the Tree Warden, it will replace one lost in the July 2016 micro-burst.
The DPW will also be giving out “tree awareness coloring books” to any children who show up tomorrow for Earth Day Cleanup. (Any leftovers will be donated to the library’s Children’s Room to distribute.) The books were made available through the MA Tree Warden Association.* (See Facebook post below.)
How can you support Arbor Day and Southborough as a Tree City USA?
The Planning Board’s section of the Town website has a section on Southborough as a “Tree City USA”. On it, residents can fill in a form pledging to either plant a tree within the public way in front of their yard or donate towards the Town’s efforts.
Because public shade trees belong to the town, the location and the species would need to be coordinated with the Town’s Tree Warden. (According to the website, if you fill in the online form, someone will get back to you.) The species would be from the list in the Town’s Street Tree Guidelines published in 2019.
A simpler option is to plant a tree fully within the bounds of your private property. That would avoid the need to coordinate with the Town, but there are important considerations outlined in Street Tree Guidelines that make it still worth consulting.
The guide warns about trees that are prone to hosting invasive Asian Long-horned Beetles. It also provides a list of native species that should thrive in our region and help support native pollinators/wildlife. Plus, the guide includes sections dedicated to trees based on the shape you are looking to plant. (“Broad Shade Trees”, “Upright or Narrow”, etc.)
The booklet also provides some helpful tips on where to plant. The focus is for planting near the roads, so you may also want to check out tips offered by The Arbor Day Foundation. Their blog offers some guidance on the size and shape of trees based on where you are planting them, including near buildings. You can find that here. (The Foundation also has other tips for planting related to soil quality, etc.)
As for why the effort is worth supporting, the Town’s proclamation explains:
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 lifegiving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife, and. . .trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of
business areas, and beautify our community, and . . .wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal.
*Thanks to Planning Board member Debbie DeMuria for sharing news about the Town’s efforts, including the message from Tree Warden Chris Leroy.
Updated (4/26/24 4:20 pm): It looks like just before I posted the initial story, the DPW updated its Facebook page to confirm that the tree planting took place today (and included a pic of the coloring book).
