New trees to be planted for Arbor Day

The Annual Arbor Day celebration is planned for Friday, April 28 at Herb Dolan Park.

BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | leslielake@amisun.com

BRADENTON BEACH – In celebration of Arbor Day on Friday, April 28, four native pigeon plum trees will replace five Australian pine trees that have been removed at Herb Dolan Park.

“The perfect location for this year’s Arbor Day is Herb Dolan Park, where we lost five Australian pines,” Ingrid McClellan, chair of the Scenic WAVES committee, told Bradenton Beach commissioners on April 6.

The city’s Public Works Department removed the non-native pines, which she said died naturally.

The committee has a designer from the Anna Maria Island Garden Club and a certified arborist who is the liaison with the Florida Department of Transportation, McClellan said, adding, “…we talked about what would be the right tree for the right place and it was determined the native pigeon plum.”

McClellan presented a fact sheet about the pigeon plum to the commission.

“It doesn’t get very large, it’s a clean tree and it does have edible plums for wildlife,” McClellan said. “It’s native, it doesn’t require a lot of maintenance and it’s tolerant of harsh conditions.”

The trees are fast-growing in full sun or partial shade, and do best on moist, well-drained soils.

“This upright, densely-foliated, rounded evergreen tree is usually seen at 15 to 25 feet and a spread of 20 to 35 feet, though it can grow larger… the 4-inch-long shiny, dark green, leathery leaves drop uniformly in March, but quickly emerge as bright red new growth,” according to material presented by McClellan.

The trees cost $500 each.

“Two committee members are pitching in,” McClellan said. “The Anna Maria Island Garden Club, $250, and the Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge, $250, and our faith- ful Modern Woodmen of America, who are with us every year, $250.” McClellan applied for a $1,305 grant from the Urban and Community Forestry Funds through the Florida Forest Service, which was approved.

Once approved and delivered, the trees will be installed by the Public Works Department.

A motion was made to approve the partnership between the Scenic WAVES committee to work with the Public Works Department, landscape companies, donors and the media to coordinate the observation of National Arbor Day on Friday, April 28 at Herb Dolan Park at the Children’s Park. It was passed unanimously by commissioners.

“There is a Tree City USA sign at Herb Dolan Park,” McClellan said. “We have an extra Tree City USA flag we’ll have at the event for photo opportunities… that will be the whole event at 9:30 a.m. on Friday on National Arbor Day, to do tree replacement.”

The Children’s Park at Herb Dolan Park is on 26th Street North and Avenue A.

“I’m grateful that we have a group of citizens that are interested and want to participate and help us to be able to do this,” Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie said.

At the April 6 City Commission meeting, Chappie read a proclamation designating April 28 as National Arbor Day in Bradenton Beach.

The proclamation reads in part: “I urge all citizens to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and to support our city’s urban forestry program and urge all citizens to plant trees to promote the wellbeing of present and future generations and enhance our community.”

The Scenic WAVES (Waterfronts: Accessible, Viable, Ecological, Sustainable) Partnership Committee is a citizen advisory committee that represents the Bradenton Beach Scenic Highway Corridor Management Entity for the Florida Department of Transportation Designated Scenic Highway Program. Scenic WAVES also serves as the Tree and Landscaping Advisory Committee to promote awareness of the city-wide tree canopy and landscaping education programs and has been submitting annually since 2011 a Tree City USA certification application for meeting national standards to the Arbor Day Foundation and Florida Forest Service, according to the Scenic WAVES website.