In honor of Arbor Day, an annual holiday observed to celebrate and encourage the planting and preservation of trees, residents at the Moorestown retirement community The Evergreens planted a sugar maple tree.
“The sugar maple is a nice, rather large shade tree,” said resident George Boehmler.
A sugar maple develops a dense crown and offers great shade. It produces small, greenish-yellow flowers in groups that curve downward on long, delicate stems, blooming in April and May, according to the Arbor Day Foundation.
“It is the most colorful fall tree,” Boehmler noted of the sugar maple. “You will find yellow, orange and red on the tree in the fall.”
Under the leadership of Boehmler and fellow resident Jack Kolb, The Evergreens started to honor the national holiday in 2023. The first tree planted there was a Kousa Dogwood chosen by Boehmler.
“All summer long, it’s a very good shade tree, and in the fall, it turns a gorgeous red, so whenever it’s active it is beautiful, in the summer and spring and fall,” Boehmler said.
In 2024, the residents planted a Horse Chestnut tree, a large species known for showy flowers in May. The bark is grey and as it ages and it becomes plate-like with small sections falling away, according to the Morton Arboretum, an internationally recognized, tree-focused botanical garden and research center.
“It’s a very good shade tree and it has these gorgeous, big blooms in the summer, and it produces a very interesting seed pod,” Boehmler explained.
Arbor Day was started by Julius Sterling Morton, a journalist and eventual secretary of agriculture under President Grover Cleveland. The first observation was held in Nebraska on April 22, 1872. Arbor Day did not become established as a nationwide holiday until 1970, as part of former president Richard Nixon’s push to establish the EPA and further the Clean Air and Endangered Species acts, according to the nonprofit Plant With Purpose.
The sugar maple tree at The Evergreens was planted near the community’s resident garden so those who live there can watch the pollinator plants and vegetables grow in the garden.
“Some people plant for pollination alone,” Boehmler observed of residents who have a square in the garden. “Their aim is for birds, bees and butterflies. They’re not planting for the beauty of the flower, they’re planting for food for birds, bees and butterflies.”
Arbor Day will be observed on Friday, April 25. There are several ways to celebrate, including going on a tree identification hike, holding a ceremony to honor those who have accomplished or advocated for actions that have enhanced or protected the local environment or hosting a competition within the community to search for the largest or oldest tree in the area.
