It was chilly, but perfect fall weather for planting trees.
To celebrate Arbor Day, the Taylor Parks and Recreation Department and the Tree Advisory Board came out to Heritage Square Park on the morning of Nov. 12 to share information about proper tree planting techniques, discuss the benefits of trees, and to plant 21 new trees, including Shumard Oaks, Live Oaks, as well as Crepe Myrtles.
About a dozen people, including families with kids armed with their own shovels, showed up to lend a hand for this effort.
“The benefits provided by our urban forest are many,” said Alison Baylis, the regional urban ecologist with the Texas A & M Forest service. “We all know that the shade of a tree can provide relief on a hot day, but did you know that trees provide us with so much more? Our urban trees can help prevent f looding during heavy thunderstorms, they clean the air we breathe, sequester carbon, mitigate urban heat islands and provide positive economic impacts.”
At the event, Baylis also discussed treeplanting techniques, including the proper depth of a hole to dig.
“One of the most important things is you don’t dig a hole too deep,” Baylis advised the group, who were readying to place a young Shumard oak tree in the ground.
Volunteers, including Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Bybee, and Brian Lawrence, who helped create the city’s Tree Advisory Committee, and other committee representatives and their families, broke up clumps of the clay-rich soil with rakes to fill the hole back in before setting out around the park to put in the other twenty trees.
Baylis said fall is the best time of year to plant, as spring is too close to the hot seasons, which can stress a new tree.
But in any case, she said, planting a tree is an important investment for the future of Taylor.
“There is an old Chinese proverb that says, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago,” Baylis said. “The second-best time is now.”
