On Saturday, April 6, the St. Mary’s Arboretum Association at St. Mary’s College will conclude the Arbor Week Series with a talk from John Campanini, retired city forester of Providence, RI, and founder of the Rhode Island Tree Council. Campanini’s talk, “Diagnostics of Trees: How to Assess the Health of Your Trees, What to Do, and Why,” will explore tree value from economic, ecologic, and aesthetic perspectives. The event will be held in the college’s Cole Cinema, Campus Center, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available adjacent to the building.
Campanini is a certified arborist and has over 35 years experience in municipal, state, and private industry tree care management and training. He has won numerous awards for his efforts to beautify the Ocean State with trees. After 25 years heading up forestry in the state capital, he founded, and, for over a decade, has advised Rhode Island’s very active volunteer tree care program, planting and caring for thousands of trees throughout his home state.
“Until recently, it was virtually impossible to place dollar values on such tree-derived benefits such as cooling shade, stormwater control, and air purification,” said Campanini. “This difficulty led to trivialization of the argument that trees are important. That’s all changed thanks to innovative technology developed by the U.S. Forest Service, and as university research and commercial enterprises have combined their data, in recent years, to truly estimate the net worth of the various benefits of trees.”
At the conclusion of the event, participants can take home free tree and shrub seedlings from the arboretum’s plant nursery. The seedlings are sponsored by the Chaney Foundation Beautification Fund, a component fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Maryland.
The St. Mary’s Arboretum Association was founded in 2010 at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. As the state’s public honors college, St. Mary’s is committed to exemplifying an honors commitment in all that it does, be it in the classroom or in its grounds practices and management. The St. Mary’s Arboretum Association holds public education sessions relevant to its waterside home in St. Mary’s County, and this year’s overall theme is “Seeing the Forest…and the Trees…Landscaping with a Sustainable Future in Mind.” All education sessions are free and open to the public. Upcoming events are listed on the arboretum’s website.