For the last few years, our urban forestry team has been writing social media posts for Wisconsin communities to post during Arbor Week. We encourage you to use social media to celebrate the many benefits of trees and inform the public about the importance of tree care.
Feel free to use the suggested messages provided below or develop your own creative tree campaign. We encourage you to use pictures of local trees in your posts to inspire community members to get out and explore the forest outside their door.
Message #1: [Name of community] is proud to celebrate [x] years as a Tree City USA! We’re committed to investing in our trees, maintaining them to the highest standards and celebrating their benefits with the public. Learn more about the Tree City USA program on the Arbor Day Foundation website: https://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa/.
If you have a photo from a past Arbor Day celebration, please include it here.
Message #2: Give your trees some love this Arbor Day! The Tree Owner’s Manual by the U.S. Forest Service has great tips for keeping your trees healthy: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5368392.pdf.
Message #3: Planting a tree this Arbor Day? Make sure you plant it correctly to set it up for a long, healthy life. There’s more to it than “green side up”! The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources offers video resources that will teach you what to do on their Urban Forests webpage: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/urbanforests/treeplantingresources
Message #4: If you’re planting a tree this Arbor Day, make it count as part of Wisconsin’s pledge towards the Trillion Trees Initiative. The pledge is aimed at growing more healthy forests to combat climate change.
The goal includes planting 1 million urban trees by 2030. Submit your information through an easy-to-use survey, which takes only minutes to complete: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/fb67e4fc539c404cbbf920e7bdee2557. By participating in the survey and marking your planting sites on a map, your trees will be counted!
Message #5: Arbor Day is April 25! Do you have a favorite tree in [name of community]? Post a photo and tell us why you like it.
Message #6: Celebrate Arbor Day by taking a tree walk in your neighborhood! Bring along a copy of the Wisconsin Urban Tree Key (https://p.widencdn.net/suh711/Urban-Tree-Key) and see how many trees you can identify.
Message #7: If any of your trees need some expert care, hiring a certified arborist is the way to go. Find a certified arborist with the ISA Certified Arborists Database: https://www.treesaregood.org/findanarborist/findanarborist or the Tree Care Industry Association Member Directory: https://www.tcia.org/TCIA/TCIA/Directories/TreeCareCompanyDirectory.aspx.