Free Tree Sapling Giveaways: Where To Get Yours In Monmouth Co.

MONMOUTH COUNTY - In partnership with the New Jersey Tree Recovery Campaign and the Arbor Day Foundation, 13 municipalities across Monmouth County will be participating in tree sapling giveaways throughout April and May. The trees are completely free-of-charge.

Masks and social distancing will be required at all pickup locations.

Below is the list of all pickup locations:

• Aberdeen - May 1 - 9 a.m. to noon - pickup at the front of town hall on Church Street
• Belmar Borough - May 1 - 10 a.m. to noon - pickup outside of Taylor Hardware at Main Street and 10th Avenue
• Colts Neck - May 1 - 9 to 11 a.m. - pickup at the town hall municipal center
• Hazlet - April 24 - 11 a.m. - pickup at NATCO parking lot at the park sign on Middle Road
• Holmdel - April 23 - 8:30 am. - 101 Crawfords Corner Road
• Howell - April 24 - 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Howell DPW Garage, 278 Old Tavern Road
• Interlaken Borough - April 25 - 1 p.m. - Arboretum, corner of Bridlemere and Grasmere
• Keansburg Borough - April 27 - 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 pm. - DPW, 40 Freeze Place
• Matawan Borough - April 24 - 10 a.m. - Borough Hall (call or text 917-747-1830 in advance)
• Monmouth Beach - April 17 - 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion, Ocean Avenue at the Green Fair
• Ocean Township - April 25 - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - West Park Recreation Center, 615 West Park Avenue
• Union Beach - April 24 at 8 a.m., April 26 noon to 4 p.m. - DPW, 1400 Florence Avenue
• Wall Township - April 23 - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Wall Township Municipal Building Courtyard

New Jersey celebrated its first Arbor Day in 1884. In the Garden State, the date is recognized as the last Friday in April, which this year is April 30. The holiday is dedicated to the planting, upkeep and preservation of trees.

The first Arbor Day in the nation occurred on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska, where more than one million trees were planted, according to History.com. By the 1920s, schools across the country began to participate in similar efforts, and each state began signing their own laws designating Arbor Day.

While then-President Theodore Roosevelt issued an "Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States” in 1907, Arbor Day did not become a national holiday until 1970 under then-President Richard Nixon. He enacted similar environmentally-friendly actions such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and created the Environmental Protection Agency.