Salem Tree-Planting At Collins School To Celebrate Arbor Day

SALEM, MA — An Arbor Day event with a hopeful lasting impact across the Witch City is planned for Collins Middle School on Friday.

Salem sixth-graders will help city officials plant five native shade trees on school grounds and each given seedlings to plant at home as part of a citywide campaign to encourage tree planting in a way that provides the best chance of long-term survival.

The Salem Department of Public Services will donate the seedlings to the students and for the Collins event that will include Acting Mayor Robert McCarthy, Department of Conservation and Recreation Forester David Bresnahan and Tree Division Superintendent Conor Morgan.

"Salem has a proud tradition of planting trees and engaging youth to celebrate Arbor Day," McCarthy said. "Trees improve our quality of life while also providing numerous environmental benefits including healthier air, heat protection, and, even mental health improvements.

"It's terrific to pass on these benefits for all to enjoy while inspiring all generations to be good stewards of our environment."

The trees will be planted at the Broad Street playground parking lot next to the school. The trees were picked to reduce the heat generated by the asphalt parking lot and provide some nearby relief to neighbors and those playing basketball at the courts.

Salem residents who want to learn about the benefits of trees, how to plant and care for trees the right way, request street trees from the city for their neighborhood, or even request free trees for their yard from the GGCP, can find all of this information, and more, on the Tree Commission webpage.

The Salem Tree Commission created a poster to explain the proper way to mulch trees and to discourage the over-mulching of trees during springtime clean-up.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)