Garden club celebrates Arbor Day with Beach school fourth graders
Fourth grade students at Beach Elementary School learned about planting a tree from members of the Estero Island Garden Club during a forester’s project on Friday, Jan. 20, recognized as Florida’s Arbor Day.
EIHS member Bobbi Kemp, chair of the Fourth Grade foresters project, began the presentation by telling facts about Florida Arbor Day to the students before reading one her favorite poems called “Trees.” She then introduced Beach resident Ken Doty, the husband of EIHS member Marjorie Doty, who gave a demonstration on how to plant a Cabbage (Sabal) palm tree, before asking the participating fourth graders for questions.
It was noted that Sabal palms grow up from tender white buds. Brown leaves are a natural part of the growth process – just trim those leaves off after planting the seedling in the ground or in a pot.
“The first thing you should do is add drainage into your pot. You can put foam bubbles or broken up flower pots in the bottom of the pot,” he said. “You can either use potting soil or, as I like to do, a little dirt out of your yard.”
Doty showed the students how to begin the planting process.
“It’s a good idea to prune off some of the ends of the roots. That causes the little hairy roots to spread out and create more roots,” he said. “Just separate the roots down into your pot, then add dirt around the plant. If you cut the roots, it causes it to form a tighter ball of roots when you are transplanting into the ground.”
Doty said the top of the plant should also be pruned to have a better chance of growing. Sabal palms are known to grow rapidly.
“Pruning makes the plant bushier,” he said. “You’ll see a new branch come out of the palm. A Sabal palm is a fan palm so it opens up like a fan.”
After the demonstration and Q&A, the local garden club members handed out palm tree seedlings, Town of Fort Myers Beach “Shades” books and EIHS signed Forester of Florida certificates.
The students thanked the Estero Island Garden Club for their time on Arbor Day.