History

Planting day at Halswell Quarry Park.

Every year Arbor Day is held to draw attention to the importance of trees in our society.

The founder of Arbor Day was Julius Sterling Morton a member of Nebraska’s Board of Agriculture. He asked for one day a year to be set aside for planting trees to help save the Great Western Plains. They had been almost totally cleared of trees. As a result the world’s first Arbor Day was held in Nebraska on 10 April, 1872.

New Zealand’s first Arbor Day planting took place in Greytown in the Wairarapa on 3 July, 1890. Following calls for the establishment of a day for tree planting, 4 August was designated as a holiday in government offices for Arbor Day. This country’s first official celebration took place in Wellington that year.

In Christchurch, on the same day, boys from Standard 6 and 7 at Christchurch East School gathered in front of Christchurch Cathedral. The Canterbury Times reported:

At 10am four tramcars left the Square fully laden with passengers, trees, spades and provisions for the day. On reaching New Brighton they went northwards to the Selwyn Country Council’s Reserve. Mr Dunlop, a local storekeeper, brought 300 trees provided by the Selwyn County Council. Pinus, maritima, muricata, macrocapa, japonica and gallica were among the varieties of trees planted.

On the same day the school staff and children planted a thousand trees on a site fronting George St, and the Canterbury Land Association was also active nearby. There were 3000 trees planted in New Brighton on that day.

By 1930 the tradition was established in the United States, France, Norway, Russia, Japan, China and most of the Commonwealth countries. During the 1970s and 80s, the ideals of Arbor Day began to take on a global perspective as New Zealanders shared a concern over the destruction of the Earth’s forests. In 1977, the date for Arbor Day was set on 5 June, World Environment Day.

Arbor Day is a special time for us to reflect on the gifts that trees give us every day.

Tree Profiles

A list of noteworthy specimens that will be worth a look on Arbor Day can be found here.

Useful links

Arbor Day Schools Programme