Arbor Day curbside tree giveaway planned

(COLUMBIA, MO) -

Columbia Parks and Recreation and the TreeKeepers volunteer group have rescheduled the original Arbor Day tree giveaway.

The giveaway will be held Saturday, May 23 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. or until seedlings are gone. Trees will be distributed in a "drive-through style" at the Rainbow Softball Center parking lot at Cosmo Park, 1615 Business Loop 70 W.

Visitors will be able to drive through the lot, view the options available on a menu board, place their tree order with staff and then receive their trees without having to leave their vehicles. Two trees per person will be distributed. Trees available include:

• American beautyberry
• Arrowwood viburnum
• Black chokeberry
• Black walnut
• Blackberry
• Blackgum
• Elderberry
• Flowering dogwood
• Ninebark
• Pawpaw
• Pecan
• Persimmon
• Pin oak
• Redbud
• Shortleaf pine
• Spicebush
• Swamp white oak
• Tulip poplar

Columbia holds Arbor Day events each year as part of their designation as a Tree City USA, a recognition bestowed by the National Arbor Day Foundation to honor the City’s commitment to a forestry program. Columbia has met all four standards to be a Tree City USA: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program and an Arbor Day observance.

For more information about the tree giveaway, call Parks and Recreation at 573.874.7460.