Garden club blesses local cemeteries with trees for Arbor Day

WILMINGTON,NC (WWAY) — As the last Friday in April, planters across the nation are celebrating Arbor Day with public tree plantings. Cape Fear Garden Club chose this year’s sites to be three cemeteries in Wilmington.

The club planted new trees at Oakdale, Pine Forest and Bellevue cemeteries.

Oakdale Cemetery Superintendent Eric Kozen says the cemetery lost 126 trees after Hurricane Florence. He is also the Cape Fear Garden Club President.

Kozen says the damage changed the landscape of the property, but the live oaks and white oaks planted are just the beginning of a new look.

“When I look to try to integrate new trees in the property, I look for a suitable location where it’s able to grow freely and fit within that particular space,” Kozen said. “These trees are actually fairly quick growers and I hope in the next 10 to 20 years this tree will be close to 30 to 40 feet tall.”

The trees planted were donated by Johnson Nursery in Willard.

Cape Fear Garden Club Arbor Day Chair Cheryl Hunter says last year the club chose the Wilmington Christian Academy as the site for the public tree planting, after the school had completed their pre-school building.