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FAIRFIELD, Conn. The Fairfield Garden Club celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by planting 100 American chestnuts, a tree almost wiped out by blight in the last century.
In 1904, maybe two-thirds of our forests were chestnuts, said Barbara Wooten, who led the clubs tree planting committee. Now its zero. Someday, years from now, well have them back again.
Though it came close to extinction, the American chestnut is enjoying a resurgence in the Northeast thanks to new replanting techniques developed by tree conservationists.
The garden club took on the project to mark several important anniversaries: Friday was the 25th time it has celebrated Arbor Day. Next year will be the National Garden Clubs 100th anniversary, and the Fairfield chapter will celebrate its 100th two years later.
The ladies enlisted the help of agricultural scientist Sandra Anagostakis of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station to find chestnut trees and bring them to Fairfield. The self-described chestnut lady, who has studied the species for 46 years, led them to a farm in Missouri that grew 100 saplings for the group.
Anagostakis also oversaw the garden clubs planting to give the trees the best chance at survival. She will also return to the eight planting sites to monitor the trees progress for her research.
Its a good chance for me to see how these trees do in this environment, in this soil, Anagostakis said. Theyre not all going to live but Im hopeful that many of them will survive and will have a chance in about 10 years to start making seeds.
The garden club chose eight locations in five Fairfield Open Spaces: Perrys Mill Pond, Springer Glen, Mountain Laurel, Lake Mohegan and Hoydens Hill. At their last stop, on the former Parcell property along the Hoydens Hill Open Space, they were joined by Tree Warden Ken PLacko, First Selectman Michael Tetreau and representatives from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).
Chris Donnelly from the DEEP announced that Fairfield was once again named a Tree City USA for its work to preserve trees in town. Fairfield has received the honor from the National Arbor Day Foundation for the last 24 years. It was the first town in Connecticut to be so designated.
Chris Martin, the DEEPs state forester, said he was thrilled to see American Chestnuts chosen as the species for Fairifelds Arbor Day tree planting.
Keeping our forest diversified is critically important because we dont know what will come next, Martin said. The more variety we have in this landscape, the healthier our tree cover will be.
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