Arbor Day Celebration Rooted in Local Arborists’ Commitment

Portsmouth has a history of being a “tree-friendly city.” In fact, in July of last year it was recertified as a Tree City USA for the 12th year in a row by the National Arbor Foundation. Portsmouth repeatedly receives this recognition because of its investment in street trees and its use of native species in various areas such as public parks.

Friday, April 27 is nationally recognized Arbor Day and here in Portsmouth members of the Seacoast Arborist Collaborative continued the city’s tree-friendly tradition with an Arbor Day celebration at Prescott Park by donating their time to care or the trees.

SAC invited members of the community to come visit the celebration by checking out the "Arborist's Perch" where there was an arborist on hand all day to answer questions about trees, tree care, and Arbor Day. Arbor Day officially began at 8:30 on Friday when a proclamation was read by a City of Portsmouth councillor. The "Arborist's Perch" was then opened for visitors.

Local arborists The Organic Arborist, Northeast Shade Tree and Green Alliance business partners Cornerstone Tree Care and Suntree Tree Healthcare attended the celebration, marking the fourth year in a row of local arboricultural camaraderie and volunteerism. 

Micum Davis of Cornerstone Tree Care was the driving force behind getting local arborists to volunteer on Arbor Day. His inspiration came from simply walking around Portsmouth and seeing many damaged and diseased trees in various parks and public spaces.

“I thought it would be cool to get a group of arborists together to prune and care for these trees that the city simply didn’t have the funding to take care of,” Davis explains.

His idea gained enough momentum, and the volunteers have been able to work in a variety of parks throughout the city in the three consecutive years the Arbor Day celebration has taken place. Their primary goal is to prune the trees for health and safety, such as removing dead limbs and structural pruning.

As Chris Kemp of Suntree Tree Healthcare points out, the Arbor Day collaboration is made up of small businesses that are essentially competitors, but friends outside of work.

“We each bring our own specialty or niche, but more importantly it’s about coming together to help in tight times when municipal budgets can’t always afford to be proactive,” elaborates Kemp.

He also adds that trees simply add to the quality of life in any city, and that is certainly the spirit behind the Arbor Day celebration as a whole, and why the arborists are so happy to volunteer their time and skills.

For more information about Cornerstone Tree Care visit www.cornerstonetree.com.

For more information about Suntree Tree Healthcare visit www.suntreecorp.com.

For more information about the Green Alliance, visit www.greenalliance.biz.