Chapel Hill celebrates 17th year as 'Tree City USA' with planting of new tree

The town of Chapel Hill will be celebrating its status as a Tree City USA for the 17th year in a row this Friday on Arbor Day.

In the state of North Carolina, Arbor Day is typically celebrated on the first Friday after March 15, but the town of Chapel Hill prefers to do things a little differently.

The town’s Landscape Architect Emily Cameron explained why the town chooses the month of November to celebrate Arbor Day.

“Planting in the fall makes it easier for the newly transplanted tree to adapt to its new environment over the winter when it’s cool and typically wet — as opposed to planting in the spring,” Cameron said.

In the spring, newly planted trees are more likely to experience extreme weather. The trees can struggle in the heat and possible droughts. Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said more trees survive in the fall than in the spring.

“We know that there is a higher survival rate for (the newly planted) tree in the late fall because we are in a warmer climate,” Hemminger said.

The Arbor Day ceremony will be held in Southern Community Park. The ceremony will consist of planting new trees, Hemminger reading the proclamation for Arbor Day and the acceptance of the Tree City USA award for 2015.

“There are four criteria that you have to meet in order to be labeled Tree City USA,” Hemminger said. “You have to maintain a tree department, there has to be a community tree ordinance, you have to spend a certain amount of money per capita and you have to celebrate Arbor Day.”

The community tree ordinance was last amended in 2010, but it was first established in the 1990s.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Nancy Oates said the ordinance is in place to preserve a significant portion of the tree canopy.

Oates said protecting trees is important because of what they do for residents.

“Studies show that people live happier and longer if they live around some greenery, like trees,” Oates said. “It also helps being down in the South that trees keep everything cool in those hot summers with the shade they provide.”

Hemminger said the town receives a lot of comments from the residents of Chapel Hill about trees specifically. Trees are lost to development and disease every year, so the town has to work to make sure there are enough trees for Chapel Hill’s environment to stay healthy.

“It is really important to re-populate and protect the tree canopy because it helps wildlife, it produces more oxygen and provides cooling in the summer,” Hemminger said. “This year it is especially important because we had to remove a lot of trees for road construction.”

Hemminger is very proud that the community has such a high value for trees, because she personally values them greatly.

“I’m a big outdoor person —I love landscaping and planting,” Hemminger said. “I love that the community values this as well.”

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