Temple Terrace Celebrates Trees This Weekend

The City of Temple Terrace is serious about its trees.

One of the things the community is known for is its canopy of oak, crape myrtle, southern magnolia, redbud, sweetgum, sabal palm, slash pine and bald cypress.

Temple Terrace was named a Tree City USA community by the Arbor Day Foundation in 2008. It has an annual Florida Arbor Day celebration, and its own Adopt-A-Tree Program, in which the city provides free trees for homeowners to plant in their yards.

It also produces the Temple Terrace Tree Guide, a full-color brochure with information on identifying, planting and caring for native trees.

Even the city’s website has a page dedicated to Temple Terrace Trees.

On Saturday, the city will celebrate its trees and the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Tampa Bay Reforestation and Environment Effort (T.R.E.E.) Inc. with a commemorative tree planting.

T.R.E.E. Inc. has helped Temple Terrace over the years with donations and assistance in planting hundreds of seedlings throughout the community. 

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The event will take place Saturday at Serena Park, 5204 Serena Drive. Festivities will start at 10 a.m. with comments by William Moriaty, co-founder of T.R.E.E. Inc., followed by the planting of several trees, according to a City of Temple Terrace press release.

“Plantings will include 7-gallon to 30-gallon trees such as purple leaf plum, flowering cherry, flowering nectarine, flowering dogwood and magnolia,” the release states.

T.R.E.E. Inc., a non-profit organization, was founded in February 1983 with the goal of reforesting the Tampa Bay area and educating the public on the importance and value of trees, according to the release. Since then, the group has planted more than 26,000 trees in 15 Florida communities with the help of some 2,000 volunteers.

“T.R.E.E. Inc. has partnered with Temple Terrace on numerous occasions to help preserve, protect and expand the city’s tree population,” the release states. “It has been an integral part of the city’s annual Florida Arbor Day celebration, and has graciously donated hundreds of trees to residents in our community.”

“During our organization’s 30 years, we have worked with many Florida communities and none has demonstrated more commitment to its urban forest than the City of Temple Terrace,” Moriaty said in the release. “Our partnership has been a wonderful and fulfilling experience, and we’re hoping it will continue for many, many years to come.”

If you go
What: T.R.E.E. Inc. Anniversary and Tree Planting
When: Saturday, 10 a.m.
Where: Serena Park, 5204 Serena Drive
More info: William Moriaty, 813-514-3941

Headed to the celebration? Take some photos while you’re there and share them in the Temple Terrace Patch Pics & Clips gallery!

See also:
Temple Terrace Celebrates Florida Arbor Day Jan. 19
Adopt-A-Tree Program Takes Root
Residents Provide Homes to Florida Saplings