Arbor Day celebration set for Saturday

For the city’s 35th year of being designated Tree City USA, the city is hosting a special Arbor Day event.

Doug Stewart, Green River parks facility and project manager, said just like previous years, trees will be planted in a city park. This year, four shademaster honeylocusts will be added to Medicine Bow Park.

However, this being the 35-year celebration they decided to change things up a little bit.

During the event, which is scheduled to take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Medicine Bow Park, a professional arborist will be on hand to show how to properly prune trees.

He said the city will also have master gardeners available to speak with residents about what kinds of trees, shrubs and plants do well in this area.

This year, children and adults alike will have a chance to play some games. For one game, participants will have the opportunity to figure out how old a tree is by counting its rings. Stewart said they will have four or five different trees cuts available for residents to look at and try and determine the age.

They can also try their luck at guessing how many pine cones there are in a container.

Like in years past, the city will had out prizes.

“We have a lot of handouts this year,” Stewart said.

Once again, thanks to a local Girl Scout troop who donated $500 for the city to purchase trees, 230 trees will be handed out. Sewart said six species are available including native plums, hybrid cottonwood, Rocky Mountain juniper, Scotch pine and Colorado blue spruce.

Stewart said in order for the city to become a tree city it must meet certain requirements -- the city must be a tree board, a tree ordinance, host an Arbor Day celebration and to at least $2 per capita on trees.

Not only is Green River meeting those requirements, but they are exceeding them. Stewart said the city’s spends and average of $5.34 per person. This figure is calculated by the amount of people in the town and how much is paid to plant, trim and maintain the trees. This also includes the removal of dead trees and planting of new ones. With everything planned, Stewart’s only hope is the weather will cooperate this year.

 

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