In our little corner of the world, trees are an essential part of life. We may take them for granted, but if they were not here in our community, we would definitely miss them.

Trees are essential to community life. Most trees and shrubs in cities or communities are planted to provide beauty or shade. These are two excellent reasons for their use. However, trees also serve many other purposes. Trees add so much to a community besides that beauty.
Don’t take the other advantages of trees for granted when selecting a tree or shrub for your landscape. Since Georgia Arbor Day will be here in just a few weeks, now is the time to plant trees during this cooler weather.

To celebrate Georgia Arbor Day, Keep Liberty Beautiful, with the help of the Farmers Natural Foods and Georgia Forestry Commission, is once again providing free 4- to 5-foot trees, including dogwoods, crape myrtles, and a variety of oaks for planting! We want to encourage citizens and any civic or youth groups, schools, churches, businesses and municipalities to reserve a tree to plant, while our supplies last.  Contact Keep Liberty Beautiful by Feb. 15 to reserve your tree. They are free. We only ask that you plant them and take care of them so the whole community benefits.

For more information or to reserve a tree, contact KLB at 880-4888, or email keeplibertycountybeautiful@gmail.com  or check out KLB on www.keeplibertybeautiful.org.  We also encourage you to take a picture of your group or family planting the trees and share it by email so that we can add it to our Facebook page and website. Photos may be sent to keeplibertycountybeautiful@gmail.com.

So, why join us for Arbor Day? Trees provide a wealth of benefits for both wildlife and people, whether we live in rural areas or in town.  They stabilize the soil and prevent soil erosion, generate oxygen, store carbon, provide homes to a variety of wildlife, provide us with raw materials,  provide plenty of jobs, provide shelter and the materials to create shelter, increase property values, have health benefits and provide shade to help cool the environment.

The calming magic of trees creates a great place for relaxation and recreation. A walk in the woods or hanging out in a green space can give almost anyone a feeling of tranquility. Most of us have fond childhood memories of playing on or around trees. Oh, for the days when you could just hang out under the shade of a big, leafy tree.

Trees and woodland areas also contribute to our quality of life by providing a place for recreation and for improving the quality of our surroundings. They also release oxygen for us to breathe and absorb carbon dioxide.

Trees also help our economy. They provide jobs. They increase land values and, in urban areas, they increase retail business.

Did you know that the presence of trees can increase developed land values by as much as 27 percent?