Arbor Week planned for Feb. 19-25

Arbor Week in Trussville is planned for Feb. 19-25.

The Trussville Tree Commission and the Trussville Public Library are sponsoring a Tree Talk on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the library. Henry Hughes, the retired vice president of education at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, will be the guest speaker.

Under the direction of Hewitt-Trussville Middle School art teacher Kristin Meriam, students are working on an art show to be displayed at the Trussville Public Library throughout Arbor Week.

The Tree Commission is planning to distribute seedlings to the community on Saturday, Feb. 25. The location was still being determined at press time. A ceremonial tree planting will also be scheduled.

To earn the Tree City USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation, five things must happen.

First, the city must form a tree board or committee, which happened in 2021. Second, a tree ordinance must be in place, which the city approved in 2022. Third, the city is required to have a budget of $2 per capita for tree planting, pruning, maintenance, trimming and removal. Fourth, an Arbor Day or Arbor Week proclamation must be approved by the Trussville City Council. Finally, an online application for designation as a “Tree City” must be completed.

As a designated Tree City, the city would receive two road signs, a 4-foot-by-6-foot Tree City USA flag and a wall plaque from the Arbor Day Foundation. With approval, Trussville would gain access to expertise and information about grants and other programs that can help the city advance the level of its tree care.

The Trussville Tree Commission has been busy since its reorganization. Its first planting of replacement trees took place in April 2022 and included 11 total trees. The second planting of another six replacement trees occurred in November 2022.

Trussville residents who want a replacement tree planted in front of their homes should let the Tree Commission know by submitting a request through www.trussville.org. Select these steps: “How do I,” click the “Action Center” under “Report an Issue,” select Other from the dropdown menu and complete the form. Be sure to write in the narrative section that you are requesting the planting of a replacement tree by the Trussville Tree Commission.

Members of the Tree Commission are Ralph Mitchell, Eric Frederick, Josh Smalley and Jenna Jones. The group hopes to inventory every city tree, identify and map them and then develop a master plan for maintenance and replanting. This way, in 50 years or even a century from now, Trussville will still have an equivalent or improved tree canopy.

“So many cities and municipalities nowadays are losing their tree canopies to development and to growth and to just lack of maintenance,” Smalley said last year. “They’re not putting the investment and value on it that it needs to have. We don’t want to lose that.”