Lavonia Celebrates Arbor Day Planting Oak Tree at Ball Fields

The City of Lavonia celebrated its 20th Arbor Day anniversary with the planting of a tree at the Lavonia Ball Fields last Thursday.

This year the Lavonia Boy Scouts Troop 51 planted a Swamp Chestnut Oak donated by John Shearhouse Nursery.

At the start of the ceremony, Mayor Courtney Umbehant read a proclamation naming Thursday, Arbor Day in Lavonia.

Shearhouse said the new oak tree will make a great shade tree and could live for hundreds of years.

The Swamp Chestnut Oak is also known as the Basket Oak because when the wood is cut it naturally splits into long, thin strips, making it ideal for using to make baskets.

While National Arbor Day is celebrated in April, Georgia Arbor Day is in February because it is the ideal time to plant trees in our state.

Arbor Day is a day set aside for schools, civic clubs, and other organizations, as well as individuals, to reflect on the importance of trees in our state and across our nation.

Lavonia is one of more than 150 communities in Georgia that have made the commitment to becoming a Tree City USA.

They have achieved Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management:

These include maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrating Arbor Day.