Riverside students celebrate Arbor Day

A red-splendor crabapple found a new home outside Riverside Elementary School in Brainerd as second-graders gathered around Friday morning for an annual Arbor Day event.

Shaun Malady, Mike's Tree Service, showed the second-grade students the best way to plant a tree to help ensure its survival as he planted the crabapple tree near the front entrance to the school. Tips included digging a hole three to four times wider than the container with the tree's root, carefully removing the tree and sliding it out of the container, and avoiding planting the tree too deep. The tree should be set in the middle of the hole with the root collar at the top of the hole. Planting the tree too deeply can lead to slow root development and poor growth or tree death, the National Arbor Day Foundation reports. Fill and pack the hole with the original soil. Create a water-holding basin around the tree. Water after planting, which helps get rid of air pockets. Use mulch, 2-4 inches, in a 3-foot diameter around the tree but leave a space and take care to keep mulch from touching the trunk. Water, slowly is best, at least once a week during the first year to help roots establish themselves deep into the ground. Malady estimated the crabapple tree he planted was 5 to 6 years old.

The Mid-Minnesota Builders Association of Crow Wing, Wadena and lower Cass Counties partnered with two second-grade classes at Riverside Elementary School in Brainerd Friday for the MMBA's annual Arbor Day celebration.

The MMBA objective is to increase understanding of the process of building a house, as well as the environmental and community issues surrounding homebuilding. Friday's event started with a 15-20 minute presentation to one classroom followed by the demonstration.

1/5: Second-graders at Riverside Elementary School gather for an Arbor Day celebration and to learn how to plant a tree properly Friday at the school.

2/5: Shaun Malady, Mike's Tree Service, shows second-graders from Riverside Elementary School how to measure the depth needed to plant a tree. Planting a tree too deeply can lead to slow tree growth or tree death. The Friday event was part of an Arbor Day celebration in partnership with the Mid-Minnesota Builders Association.

3/5: Riverside Elementary second-graders watch as Shaun Malady, Mike's Tree Service, plants a red splendor crabapple tree at the Brainerd school as part of a partnership with a Mid-Minnesota Builders Association annual Arbor Day celebration. Renee Richardson/Brainerd Dispatch

4/5: Shaun Malady, Mike's Tree Service, shows Riverside Elementary School second-graders how to plant a tree.

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