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ABOUT
Urban forestry includes public care, maintenance, and growth of trees, greenbelts, shrubs, ground cover, flowers, perennials and wildflowers. A variety of educational initiatives are also part of the urban forestry efforts.
ARBOR DAY
Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care. Keep Pearland Beautiful celebrates Arbor Day each year by giving away seedlings to the citizens of Pearland and, in 2011, Arbor Day will be celebrated on January 14-15 at the Stella Roberts Recycling Center. An official Arbor Day tree will be dedicated and tree varieties will include Bald Cypress, Pecan, Nuttall Oak, Mexican Plum and Wild Pear. For more information on Arbor Day or to reserve a tree to plant that day, contact Linda Cowles at 281-652-1659.
TREE CITY USA
In 2010, the City of Pearland was awarded the Tree City USA designation by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The honor is the City's first and Pearland is one of only 70 communities in Texas to hold the distinction.
To qualify as a Tree City USA community, a town or city must meet four standards established by The Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters. Those standards include the designation of a Tree Board, establishment of a community tree ordinance, implementation of a community forestry program with a designated operating budget and an annual observance of Arbor Day along with an Arbor Day proclamation by the City Council.
The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more than 135 million Americans call home. There are 3,400 communities that are currently a Tree City USA.
LEGACY TREES
The Legacy Tree program aims to memorialize Pearland citizens by planting trees in their honor. These plantings take place in public parklands under the control of Pearland Parks & Recreation Department. For information regarding program criteria or procedures, please click here. Applications for the purchase and planting of Legacy Trees are available in the Parks & Recreation main office and should be submitted to the following:
Pearland Parks & Recreation Department
c/o Parks Superintendent
4141Bailey Road
Pearland, Texas 77584
ASK THE EXPERTS
If you have questions regarding your trees, shrubs or flowers, please contact Urban Forester John Walters at jwalters@ci.pearland.tx.us or 281-652-1983. The Urban Forester is unable to make house calls, but if you would like to send digital photos of your tree questions or concerns, please do so to the email address above. We are also happyto provide the public with pertinent information or provide a program or informationalworkshop.
Find out more about urban forestry at these sites:
International Society of Arboriculture Texas Chapter
Texas Urban Forestry Council
The National Arbor Day Foundation
Benny Simpson'sTexas Native Shrubs
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