National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but many states observe Arbor Day on different dates according to their best tree-planting times. In most states, Arbor Day is in March or April, but if you live in Alabama, it’s this week, so get digging!

Why bother? Take some responsibility for your carbon footprint! Trees gladly consume carbon dioxide and provide us with lovely oxygen. Did you know that trees can reduce your home heating and cooling costs? True! I spend almost nothing to cool my home in the summer and that wouldn’t be the case without the ancient maple trees surrounding my house. Let’s not overlook that attractive landscaping increases the appeal of your home, and trees are beautiful all year around and come in all shapes and sizes. What better place is there for a backyard picnic than under a shady tree? If you don’t have your own property to plant on, you can volunteer to improve public land. There are opportunities all across the country.

You know that I plant my Christmas tree each year, but we try to do more than that. My husband usually gets a tree for Father’s Day, and each year we plant a few trees to landscape our property or we put a few in our little orchard. Can you ever have too many varieties of apples? I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I hope one day I will…