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Making Things A Shade Better

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By PAUL CATALA, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 26, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE - Temple Terrace city staff members and residents got together last weekend to make the city greener, more vibrant and shadier for generations to come.

Underneath the sprawling, winding branches of the sand live oak canopy at Riverhills Park, about 30 people attended the city's fourth annual Florida Arbor Day Celebration on Jan. 19. There, they learned about trees native to the area and how to preserve, protect and propagate them.

Guests also left with bald cypress, longleaf pine and sand live oak seedlings donated by the Tampa Bay Reforestation and Environmental Effort, a nonprofit organization working to reforest the Tampa Bay area.
Temple Terrace is known for its abundance of native trees, including live and water oaks, elms, longleaf pines and sabal palms.

Holding up a longleaf pine, Will Moriarty, director of the Tampa Bay Reforestation and Environmental Effort, gave planting and care tips and told the audience the tree is a true pioneer of the area.

"The Spanish came here in search of these. This is what they were harvesting in this area over 250 years ago," he said. "This is a wonderful place for these. It's dry, sandy soil."

Moriarty told guests that if they wanted a tree that would last several lifetimes, the bald cypress is the king of longevity, mentioning one that survives in Longwood that is about 4,000 years old.

"This is a good plant if you have any standing water on your property," he added.

Dana Carver, Temple Terrace parks planner, said that before the city was developed, it was an oak and longleaf pine habitat, but development and the natural maturing and death of those trees wiped many of them out. He said it's important to plant new ones and keep them thriving.

"Trees are like people. They get old and die. You have to have some to replace them," he said.

The event concluded with the distribution of the seedlings.

Standing at the bed of a pickup, Temple Terrace resident Kim Hall and her children, Colin, 7 and Eryn, 11, took longleaf pine saplings. It was the second year they had attended the event.

"We're very interested in Temple Terrace trees and keeping them healthy. The trees we planted last year are doing fine, and that's good for our house, the neighborhood and the city," she said.

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