Laguna Beach celebrates Arbor Day with native tree planting
Laguna Beach waited longer than expected for its annual Arbor Day celebration, but dozens took part in the educational activities available at Aliso Beach Park on Thursday afternoon.
It marked the eighth annual ceremony held by the city, which has traditionally included a native tree planting. On this occasion, a California sycamore was planted in the ground.
'I did the hard work, digging the enormous planting hole, but everything's prepped and then all the kids helped out with putting all the dirt in there,' said Matthew Barker, the city arborist.
The lessons shared along the way included tamping down the soil.
Community organizations were also there to share their knowledge of environmental matters. Among the groups in attendance were Citizens' Climate Education, Crystal Cove Conservancy, Laguna Art Museum, the Laguna Beach Garden Club, the Laguna Beach Urban Tree Fund, Laguna Canyon Foundation, Laguna Greenbelt Inc, LOCA Arts Education, Pacific Marine Mammal Center and Village Laguna.
Public works personnel and West Coast Arborists, a city contractor, were also on hand, as were the Friends of the Hortense Miller Garden and the Laguna Beach chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
'It was a great turnout,' Barker said. 'A lot of kids, which is great. We partner with the Laguna Beach Boys & Girls Club. Usually, they'll do environmental activities leading up to [Arbor Day], and then they come and enjoy all the activities and crafts and giveaways and prizes and games that all the exhibitors put on for the kids.
'I work with the Laguna Beach Unified School District, where many of the Boys & Girls Club kids attend one of those schools, and we do a youth art contest.' The prizes included a Lomi kitchen compost appliance for the first-place winner, with bonsai juniper trees going to those that earned honorable mention.
'The winner did a watercolor painting on canvas of a fantastical tree island — like a floating tree island,' Barker said. 'It was quite lovely and unique. We had three honorable mentions. One of them wrote a poem, and then a couple others did some really unique drawings. These are 6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-year-olds, so the work that they do is quite impressive for kids that age.'
The event was held at Boat Canyon Park last year. Barker, who started in his position in February 2021, said he tries to move the tree planting ceremony around to account for trees that had to be removed. Last year, a non-native pine that died was replaced with a Torrey pine.
Laguna Beach had planned to host its Arbor Day event on March 6, but the event was postponed due to rain. It was rescheduled to align with the national Arbor Day date, which fell on Friday.
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