TREES ARE THE ANSWER

By Ella Tyler

My favorite trade shows are the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association’s shows. The convention center in Houston, Dallas, or San Antonio, depending on the year, overflows with beautiful displays of big trees, bedding plants, fountains, and garden furnishings and décor. Flowers or greenery also decorate the booths that exhibit tools, fertilizers, and services.

At one of these shows, I picked up a bumper sticker that says “Trees Are The Answer.” It seemed like a delightfully extravagant claim.

However, the more I know about trees, the truer the bumper sticker is.

Trees for Houston’s web site lists benefits of trees – “In an urban environment, they clean and cool the air, buffer sound and wind, offer animal habitats, and shade and beautify our environment. Not to mention the support they bring to swings, hammocks, and chimes everywhere.”

These are priceless gifts, but for the bean counters among us, trees also have substantial, quantifiable economic values. The 2005 report “Houston’s Regional Forest: Structure Functions Values”, concludes that trees in our region store $721 million worth of carbon; generate $109 worth of environmental benefits per person per year and also save $90 per household in energy costs per year; and remove more than 60,000 tons of air pollution per year.

Arbor Day, even though it is a national celebration of trees, is celebrated at different times across the country according to climate. Here, we commemorate the occasion with events this weekend and next.

Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center, 20634 Kenswick Drive, will have free saplings and tips on tree selection and tree planting this Saturday and Sunday (January 19 and 20) from 10 am to 4 pm.

Also on Saturday, visitors to the Houston Arboretum, 4501 Woodway, can have their picture taken with Johnny Appleseed, Smokey Bear, and HANC the Owl; make paper, take a tree tour, listen to live woodwind music, and watch demonstrations from Gulf Coast Woodturners Association and Woodworkers Club of Houston. Pine tree seedlings will be given away and there will be a native tree and shrub sale. The festivities are from 10 am to 4 pm.

The Urban Harvest fruit tree sale is also tomorrow, January 19. This sale features both common and exotic varieties, including avocados, berries, citrus, figs, grapes, mangos, and jujubes. This sale also offers varieties of apple, pear, and peaches that will produce despite our areas limited chill hours; and tropicals that will survive our occasional cold days. The sale is from 9 am to 1 pm at Emerson Unitarian Church, 1900 Bering Dr.

There is a Greek proverb that says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” To that end, on Saturday, January 26, from 8 am to noon, volunteers will be planting 3,000 five-gallon trees on North Shepherd. To volunteer, contact Vannessa Wade at vannessa.wade@cityofhouston.net or (713) 845-1117. For more information, see the Houston Parks website.