South Hills Park gets a new tree for Arbor Day
Around 30 community members gathered Friday for the second annual Lebanon County Clean Water Alliance Arbor Day Celebration at South Hills Park, where a new tree was planted at the park during a program on tree planting and maintenance.
Jamie Yiengst, South Lebanon Township manager, kicked off the event with remarks before handing it off to Jon Schach, president of the Lebanon Valley Conservancy and general manager at Good's Tree and Lawn Care, who walked the attendees through a tree planting.
The labor of planting the tree was donated by Good's Tree and Lawn Care, and the tree was purchased by the township form Boltz Tree Farm and Nursery.
"I am honored that we're here in South Lebanon Township this year, we can show off our beautiful park, which is an official arboretum," Yiengst said.
The tree, an emerald sunshine elm, will grow to about 35 feet tall and 25 feet wide. Schach said that in about 10 years it will be about 25 feet tall.
Schach said American elms were extremely common years ago around town centers and cities but have mostly succumbed to Dutch elm disease. There has since been a concerted effort to get elm trees that aren't susceptible to the disease back into those streets. The emerald sunshine elm, a hybrid, is hearty and drought resistant.
The tree was planted near the tree that was planted during the 2023 event.
Seedlings of different types of trees, courtesy of the Keystone Ten Million Trees Partnership, were given out for free.
During the presentation, Schach provided several tips on how to plant a tree:
Ensure the hole is just slightly bigger than the root ball, but not too deep.
Be careful not to remove the entire wire basket around the root ball before placing it in the hole, as the root ball may collapse. But be sure to remove the wire basket from the area that roots will grow.
Remove the burlap around the root ball.
Remove the soil heaped up around the base of the tree, making sure the root flair is above or at grade level.
Don't impact soil when adding to the hole, but make sure there's no air pockets.
When mulching, be careful not to let mulch get up on the base of the tree.
Ensure that trees are staked too tightly, as its important that the tree experiences movement from the elements.
For maintenance, slowly water with an open hose instead of something like a high pressure spray nozzle. To check if a tree is sufficiently watered, pull mulch away down to the soil and check if the soil will clod up in hand.
It's important to allow a tree to cycle between wet and dry. It's also important that a tree is well irrigated going into the winter.
Schach added that equally important as to how the tree is planted is for homeowners to know what kind of tree is right for them. For example, someone with smaller lawn probably shouldn't plant something like a large oak or sycamore. For those with the space to do it, though, he encourage the planting of larger trees, as he believes society doesn't plant enough of them.
Landscape centers are good at knowing what kind of tree might be best for someone's property
"Trees have many benefits for the areas we live and so by commemorating them and planting trees it allows people in the community to have that engagement," Schach said. "I feel like today people have less of an opportunity to have that experience.
"To be able to have conversations around trees and think about what they need to support themselves, that's very good."
Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on X @djlarlham.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: South Hills Park, an arboretum, gets a new tree for Arbor Day
