Tree Appreciation for Arbor Day

I have a deep appreciation and love for trees and I started writing this post several months ago. Half way into writing this tree appreciation post I thought it would be great to publish it on Arbor Day. So what is Arbor Day? Arbor Day translates into “tree” day, arbor is Latin for tree. This is a global holiday dedicated to the celebration of planting, taking care of and the preservation of trees.

The History of Arbor Day

When did Arbor Day begin? Well, it started in Nebraska in the United States of America in the 1870’s. A journalist, Julius Sterling Morton, moved to the state of Nebraska with his wife Caroline in 1854. The couple purchased 160 acres in Nebraska City and began planting trees on their mostly barren and flat land. Morton later became the editor of the Nebraska City News and used the paper as a platform to discuss his knowledge of trees and their ecological importance. His message was widely received by his readers and they recognized the need for more trees in their community.

Morton was also a member of the Nebraska Board of Agriculture. He proposed to the members of the board that a day of the year should be dedicated for the community to come together and plant trees. The board agreed and Arbor Day was born.

The first official day of Arbor Day was April 10, 1872 and was a huge success! Morton and his readers planted approximately 1 million trees! The enthusiasm and tradition quickly grew and became an official state holiday April 22, 1885. The new date was chosen because it was a better planting time for the trees and it was Morton’s birthday.

Within 20 years, Arbor Day was celebrated in every state except Delaware and spread across Europe, Canada and Australia. Even though Arbor Day was growing globally, it did not become a national holiday until President Nixon made it official in 1970.

An interesting fact about Arbor Day is that it is celebrated at different times of the year depending on your location. Most states in the United States and the national observance day for Arbor Day is the last Friday in April but many states celebrate according to the best time of year to plant a tree. You can visit Celebration Dates at arborday.org to find the celebration dates for your area.

My Appreciation of Trees 

Growing up in the high desert of California I have a deep appreciation for trees. The hours of enjoyment of swinging from my tire swing was thanks to the Mulberry tree in my parents yard. The many birthday parties (my birthday is in July and usually incredibly hot) and the Fourth of July’s outside were made more comfortable because of that tree. This tree stood as the background for many life events from the first day of school, holidays, birthdays and hours of enjoyment from swinging in the tire swing or climbing up into it. The tree now is getting older as the rest of us but it even held a swing for my kids, provided shade for their slippy slide and the anchor for new family photos.

The break from the hot summer sun was provided by the elm trees in our backyard. The shade from those elms provided a reprieve for our animals and cooled our home. Even Christmas was involved with our love of trees. My parents bought quite a few live potted pine trees for our Christmas tree and they are now huge trees in my parents yard. 

Rick and I have a special spot for Mulberry trees because he also had a Mulberry tree at his parents place that was a vital part of their yard. They hosted many family gatherings and everyone’s favorite spot was to pull up a chair under the shade of that tree. Those family functions would not have been as comfortable in the summer without the shade that tree provided. 

Trees have been an important background to my childhood and I continue to try and add as many trees as I can to our yard. Our current trees provide shade for our animals and our kids fort/garden area. The kids could not play outside as long as they do in the summer if it wasn’t for our pine trees providing the much needed shade to stay cool. The kids have built an intricate fort/play/garden area that they call “Jamestown” and it has provided countless hours of playtime and outside time.

Our trees not only provide important shade for us but they also provide homes to wild birds. We have enjoyed watching many hummingbirds that make nests and raise babies to the passing Western Bluebirds and watching our favorite Mourning Dove couples.

The shade trees we currently have are Mesquite, Mulberry, Desert Willow, Palo Verde, Elm, Arizona Ash, Raywood Ash, Chaste and Pine trees.

Our fruit and nut tree collection includes cherry, plum, peach, apple, fig, pear, apricot and almond. I would like to add a few more fruit and nut trees to our collection as well as more shade trees. In our area, you really cannot have too many trees to provide the much needed break from the intense summer sun. Just today I was weeding in the yard and the only way I could continue with my project was to take breaks under the shade of our Raywood Ash. That tree gave me instant relief from the sun and I was able to cool down before starting up again.

We are always on the lookout for another tree to add to our yard. This arbor day I would like to celebrate by attempting to propagate from the original Mulberry tree in my parents yard. I think it would be special to have a piece of that tree that would continue to grow. My mom estimates the tree to be approximately 60 years old and it would be amazing to carry on its legacy.

If the propagation method I am trying works, I will write a blog post about what I did. If you would like to follow along with the progress, please follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Arbor Day, how trees are important to me and that you are now encouraged to plant a few more trees in your garden!

Happy Arbor Day and happy desert gardening!

Joy Simper has a full time job as a home schooling stay at home mom. She is the one that holds the house and yard together and keeps the kids in line. She enjoys gardening, including seed starting and propagating plants.