Plant a Tree for Earth Day

Planting a tree is a long-term investment. Besides adding beauty to your school or home landscape, a tree helps the environment by taking up carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that is such a big driver in climate change. It may cast shade on a hot summer day, reducing the energy costs of summer cooling, or act as a windbreak to help cut winter fuel bills. And it can provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for a wide variety of wild creatures. You'll reap the biggest dividends if you take the time to get your young tree off to the best start by planting and caring for it correctly. The very first step is to make sure you’re planting your tree where there’s adequate space for it to reach maturity. That slender sapling you’re putting in the ground has the potential to live for decades, getting taller and wider with the passage of time, so be sure to let the mature height and spread of the tree guide your selection. Consider a well-grown tree a gift to generations to come. read more