The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
FOR YEARS TO COME
City celebrates Arbor Day with tree planting ceremony
The city of Oberlin held its annual Arbor Day Celebration and Tree Planting Ceremony on April 22 at Underground Railroad Park.
Workers from Oberlin’s Building and Grounds division planted an Exclamation! Planetree and tended to other recently planted trees.
Jason Keltner, Buildings and Grounds superintendent, said a significant part of his job is tending to trees in the city. The certified arborist said the city planted 65 trees on cityowned property throughout last year.
Keltner said trees are often planted during the fall but that care is something that stretches over multiple seasons.
“We always do an Arbor Day tree planting in April which we had today,” he said. Arbor Day is April 26. “We also water trees that were planted last fall throughout the first summer and do general upkeep.”
Keltner said when planting a tree it is important to know your source for the tree and to pick a size that you can handle.
“Always look at the stock that you’re getting carefully,” he said. “Make sure you’re not getting a lot of broken branches and that it has good shape. If it was grown in a pot make sure to look to see how the roots are circling the pot and how deep they are.”
The new tree planted at the Underground Railroad Park is an Exclamation! Planetree which Keltner said is a cross between a London Planetree and a sycamore.
“It’s a fast growing shade tree which is capable of growing in very bad soil,” he said. “This location has a lot of gravel and asphalt buried in the ground so that’s why we chose it.”
A small crowd of Oberlin community members came out to celebrate Arbor Day and watch the ceremony.
“The people come out and seem to enjoy seeing the trees being planted in the town and getting a short planting lesson,” Keltner said. “It’s abbreviated and quick, but it goes through proper planting procedures and techniques. We want to educate anybody who wants to know how to plant a tree.”
Gavin Horning, who also works in the Building and Grounds Division, helped plant the tree at the event. He said it is meaningful to see the community support projects like this.
“It’s really nice planting trees around Oberlin and seeing the community come together to make it more of a beautiful place,” Horning said.