Tremendous trees

Traditionally the last Friday of April — April 25 this year — Arbor Day is about the countless ways trees improve our quality of life.

Arbor Day observances often involve students in service opportunities, such as planting a tree or trees, and community education.

Now — en route to Arbor Day and the colorful seasons — is the time to start thinking about how we can make a gift to the future.

Indiana’s Tree Cities have commissions, boards or departments that residents can turn to for guidance.

According to ArborDay.org the following area communities are among the Tree Cities in Indiana. The number of years they have achieved the designation is in parenthesis.

Angola (35)

Fort Wayne (34)

Auburn (31)

Columbia City (30)

Nappanee (30)

Goshen (28)

Fort Wayne (24)

Syracuse (23)

Fremont (18)

Kendallville (15)

New Haven (13)

Tree City USA Standards

The Tree City USA standards were established by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters.

Standard 1: A Tree Board or Department

Someone must be legally responsible for the care of all trees on city — or town —owned property. By delegating tree care decisions to a professional forester, arborist, city department, citizen-led tree board or some combination, city leaders determine who will perform necessary tree work. The public will also know who is accountable for decisions that impact community trees.

Involving residents and business owners creates wide awareness of what trees do for the community and provides broad support for better tree care.

Standard 2: A Public Tree Care Ordinance

Trees on public property are a public good, and caring for these trees is a vital element of the Tree City USA program. A public tree care ordinance or law forms the foundation of a city’s tree care program.

Qualifying ordinances provide clear guidance for planting, maintaining, and/or removing trees from streets, parks, and other public spaces.

A public tree care ordinance protects public trees at all times, not just during the development process. In other words, the policies for tree planting, care, and removal of trees codified in the ordinance must be continuous, not triggered by an event like landscaping requirements or the land development process.

The ordinance should be flexible enough to fit the needs and circumstances of the community.

Standard 3: A Community Forestry Program with an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita

City trees provide many benefits — clean air, clean water, shade and beauty to name a few — but they also require an investment to remain healthy and sustainable. By providing support at or above the $2 per capita minimum, a community demonstrates its commitment to grow and tend these valuable public assets.

A little investigation usually reveals that more than this amount is already being spent on tree care.

Standard 4: An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation

An effective program for community trees would not be complete without an annual Arbor Day ceremony. Citizens join together to celebrate the benefits of community trees and the work accomplished to plant and maintain them. By passing and reciting an official Arbor Day proclamation, public officials demonstrate their support for the community tree program and complete the requirements for becoming a Tree City USA!

An Arbor Day celebration can include a tree planting event, tree care activities or an award ceremony that honors leading tree planters. For children, Arbor Day may be their only exposure to the green world or a springboard to discussions about the complex issue of environmental quality.

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Help seedlings, saplings take root

Kendallville’s tree commission is preparing for Kendallville’s Arbor Day celebration, which will continue into May when a variety of free seedlings will be distributed at the Community Learning Center, corner of Diamond and Riley streets. The seedlings will be at the CLC’s first farmer’s market of the season.

In addition to planting a tree at a local school on Arbor Day, Kendallville’s commission is arranging for the planting of a large quantity of seedlings (1-2 feet tall). East Noble’s National Honor Society members have assisted with this at Bixler Lake Park. Bald cypress trees are chosen because they do well in moist areas, such as around Bixler Lake, Jim Nixon, a member of the commission, said. This year the mix will also include river birch and swamp white oak.

“They all tolerate more moisture than average,” Nixon said.

Nixon said a statewide concern is silver maple trees. They are fast growing, but not colorful. In addition, they split easily and are short-lived.

“We do not plant maples at all, at the state’s insistence,” he said. “Maples put on a pretty good show in the fall, but in Indiana towns, people have over-planted maples. If you end up with too many in a family of trees, an entire family of trees can become subject to disease or a pest, wiping out a whole population of trees.”

Among the many good choices for planting are tulip trees. Indiana’s state tree, tulip trees can grow to become very large. For people desiring smaller trees, redbuds, which have beautiful pink blooms in the spring, are ideal.

Free trees are part of the Arbor Day Foundation’s membership plan. For details about Arbor Day Foundation membership go to arborday.org/about and explore.

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Tree facts

• “A growing body of evidence links exposure to trees with reduced rates of mortality, cardiovascular disease, stress, and depression. Living in greener areas is associated with higher levels of happiness, cognitive development, and learning outcomes. These benefits are related to a decrease in exposure to air pollution, noise, and heat, increased contact with nature, and strengthened social cohesion.” — treeboston.org

• Weeping willow tree bark has a compound similar to aspirin, a type of pain reliever. When male deer are growing new antlers, they’ll look for weeping willows to help alleviate the itchiness. — teachstarter.com

• A tree now known as the “Survivor Tree” was remarkably found alive at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks. The Callery pear tree was nursed back to health in a Bronx nursery and is now part of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. — teachstarter.com

• It takes about 40 gallons of maple tree sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup! Thank a maple tree next time you take a bite of pancake. — teachstarter.com

• Evergreen trees — such as pine trees and spruce trees — don’t lose their leaves and usually have needle-like leaves. Deciduous trees have big leaves that change color and eventually fall off during autumn and winter. — teachstarter.com

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Our Sycamore

Thank you to the family of Arthur Franklin Mapes for permission to share this poem. More of Indiana Poet Laureate Arthur Franklin Mapes’ work can be found at arthurmapes.wordpress.com/official-state-poem/

There’s a sycamore on Main Street

Just as stately as can be,

And it rises from an island

In a spreading black-topped sea.

When I pass it by I wonder,

“Will this old tree live or not

When its thirsty roots are smothered

By this downtown parking lot?”

It can’t speak aloud, but whispers

Like it wants me for a friend

To seek help that we might save it

From a cruel, untimely end.

All I need to set me dreaming

Of the good old days of yore

Is to gaze up through the branches

Of this stately sycamore.

Oh! the moonglow through its broad leaves

Sort of warms me up inside;

It may be the love of nature,

Or a touch of Hoosier pride.

It has stood refreshed in rainbow light

That follows the Summer rains.

Its leaves have waved at the moon and stars,

And a million passing trains.

So proudly it stands on cold winter nights

In its snowy-white garments dressed,

And lulled by songs of summer winds

It has cradled a robin’s nest.

It has seen the many changes

That comes with the passing of years,

It has watched the progress of our town

Since the days of the pioneers.

Great men may roam through a forest

And see everything but a tree,

But sycamores were meant to be

Loved by… little men … like me.

Note: This sycamore no longer stands but see the photo of a 1925 postcard shared by Mapes’ son, Mike Mapes of Auburn. The postcard depicts the tree when it was much smaller.