National Arbor Day is coming soon! Arbor Day is a day set aside to celebrate and observe the importance of trees in our environment and to encourage tree planting. National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but many states observe Arbor Day on different dates, according to their best tree-planting times. Arbor Day in Maine, for example, isn’t until the 3rd full week of May. In Minnesota, we observe Arbor Day on the last Friday of April.

This is an excellent time to increase the awareness of our environment and the irreversible role that trees play in literally creating the air we breath. I would encourage you to go on-line to their website (see below) and order some inexpensive trees or shrubs. They will make an excellent project for the family on a nice Spring day. Or you could volunteer to take a class of young kids out and plant them at their school, or even send them home to plant them at home. A few years back I took a class of 2nd graders out and we toured a tree nursery and then gave them a green ash tree to plant at home. They still remember planting their tree and have enjoyed watching it grow over the years!

If you go to their website (http://www.arborday.org/arborday/index.cfm), you can find tons of useful information. For example you can use their on-line guide to tree identification, get ideas for children’s programs, or find information on upcoming conferences and seminars. They also have an on-line tree store and merchandise store. Check it out!