April 27, 2021
Tree plantings this week to celebrate Arbor Day
Kansas State University is a recognized Tree Campus Higher Education campus, an Arbor Day Foundation program. To maintain this title, each spring Arboriculture students share their passion for trees during the week of Arbor Day, which is the last Friday in April in Kansas.
This year students will plant five trees, three of which were donated by the Rotary Club and an anonymous citizen. Throughout this week, students will plant, two persimmon trees, Diospyros virginiana, and a chestnut oak tree, Quercus montana, in the Quad. A blue spruce, Picea pungens, will be planted in front of Dykstra Hall, and a blue thunder bolt spruce, Picea glauca, at the President's Residence.
The thunder bolt spruce is a special tree introduced by Blueville Nursery owner Keith Westervelt. It is a perfect size tree, approximately 25 feet tall by 15 feet wide, making it an ideal choice on the south lawn of the President's Residence. This tree will be planted at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, April 29, with President Myers and Mary Jo Myers in honor of Arbor Day.
By meeting the five annual standards and being recognized as a Tree Campus Higher Education college or university, the goal is to create a campus that not only helps to benefit and create a more sustainable environment but also instills pride in the students, faculty and community. This year’s educational outreach endeavor is formulated around the critical importance of trees in the urban landscape which must be supported by a recurrent tree planting program.
"As we look around many community landscapes, we see beautiful, large, aging trees, often we do not see a good interplanting of new trees," said Cathie Lavis, professor and extension specialist in the horticulture and natural resources department and member of the university's tree advisory committee. "We are thankful to those who planted the many beautiful aging trees in our city environment and on our campus. We must plant new trees every year, so trees can line our streets, our parks, our residential and commercial landscapes and of course, our K-State campus. Trees provide food and homes for wildlife, oxygen, shade and reduce crime."
Since 2013, arboriculture students have planted almost 40 new trees on our campus.