Hoover to give trees for Arbor Day

This March, Hoover residents will gather at Aldridge Gardens to celebrate Arbor Day. 

The program includes recognition of the winners of the Arbor Day essay writing contest, all of whom are Hoover City Schools students, as well as a tree giveaway and plenty of food, said Colin Conner, Hoover’s urban forester. The Hoover Beautification Board conducts the Arbor Day essay contest, and the winner of the contest will read their essay at the event.

“Interestingly enough, I have met students at the Auburn School of Forestry, studying to be professional foresters, who were Hoover residents and grew up planting trees with me from schools, and from that took an interest in trees, and from that have tried to parlay that into a career,” Conner said.

While the national Arbor Day is set for the last week in April, that is not the ideal time for planting in Alabama, said Dale Dickenson, urban forestry coordinator for the Alabama Forestry Commission. 

In Alabama, Arbor Week and Arbor Day are typically celebrated in late February, although the date varies by community.

“It would seem like we’d celebrate Arbor Day in February, and April would roll around, and people would celebrate it again,” Dickenson said. “Well here’s the skinny: [Arbor Day] started in Nebraska, so nationally, Arbor Day is celebrated the last Friday in April. … In Nebraska, they get a good bit of snow and the ground tends to freeze, so [April] is a good time to plant trees in Nebraska. In Alabama, it’s already getting warm [in April], and we may have spring rains.”

Ideal tree planting time is between November and February in Alabama, Conner said.

The Hoover Arbor Day celebration will be March 3 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. For more information, go to aldridgegardens.com.