Lewes to observe Arbor Day with tree seminar April 27
The City of Lewes will celebrate Arbor Day with a tree planting and a tree seminar the weekend of April 26. The parks and recreation commission will plant a black gum tree in George H.P. Smith Park on Arbor Day and then host a free tree seminar for the public Saturday, April 27, at the Margaret H. Rollins Community Center at 101 Adams Ave.
The tree seminar will include three very interesting speakers and topics, including Eric Wahl of Element Design Group, president of the Delaware Native Plant Society; Mark Shaw, a board-certified arborists with Bartlett Tree Experts; and Kathy Andrzejewski, a horticulture therapist with Nature Connectz and an educator at Longwood Gardens.
The programming will start at 10 a.m. with Eric Wahl speaking on native trees and their benefits including using them in landscaping, and how to evaluate a property to choose the right plant for the right spot.
At 11:15 a.m., Mark Shaw will cover current issues affecting the area including boxwood blight, spotted lantern fly, emerald ash borer and more. He will also review proper planting and pruning techniques, and will be available to answer questions about issues people are having in their yards.
Kathy Andrzejewski will wrap up the seminar with her session starting at 12:30 p.m., covering how horticulture therapy can benefit health and well-being. She will suggest easy things to do to add it into one’s lifestyle. In addition to learning about horticulture therapy, participants will also create a simple horticulture project to take home.
The tree seminar is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Anyone interested in attending is encouraged to RSVP. To reserve space, email akirk@ci.lewes.de.us or leave a voicemail at 302-645-7777, Ext. 100 indicating how many will attend.
This is the 18th year in a row that the City of Lewes has been named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. The city achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board commissioner, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
More than 900 city trees have been inventoried, and each has a bronze numbered tag. A person can learn more about a particular tree such as its species, age and health just by entering the tag number into the ArborScope program. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.
