Arbour Day celebrates the importance of our trees and green spaces. On this day, each grade 1 student in Calgary's schools receives a tree seedling to be taken home to be planted on private property. To date, annual Arbour Day celebrations in Calgary have distributed an estimated 425,000 tree seedlings to grade one students.

Each Grade 1 and 2 student will be coming home with a tree! With these trees come instructions on how to plant.

- Plant me in your garden right away! Please ask for help.

- Give me enough room to grow: I will be a big tree, 15-20 metres tall and 7-9 metres wide!

- Plant me at least four metres away from other trees, shrubs or buildings.

- Don't plant me under power lines.

- Keep me cool and moist. Handle me gentle, my roots break easily.

- When you plant me, remember:

-- remove the plastic bag

-- spread my roots in the hole and cover them quickly

-- press the soil firmly around my roots and give me a good drink of water

--please protect me with a small fence while I am little. 

Please ask your child: Why are trees important?