Outdoor - American Forests' Historic Tree Program

Another July 4^th may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t show your patriotic colors.

And here at 1GreenProduct.com, the most patriotic color of all is green!

That’s why we like the American Forests’ Historic Tree Program, which lets you pick out a Red Maple seedling grown from the seeds of Red Maple trees that George Washington planted at Mount Vernon.

Other seedlings are descendants of trees from Gettysburg (Honey Locust), Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion (Southern Magnolia) or Red Cross-founder Clara Barton’s private office (Redbud).

We received a sample of the Redbud that arrived in good condition looking quite healthy. The tree comes with a plastic greenhouse tube, wood stake and plastic bird safety net.

Given that we try to minimize our use of plastics, we were initially pretty dismayed to see that the tree ships with a protective plastic greenhouse tube.

Even after learning that the tube is necessary in many environments to protect fragile seedlings from animals (deer, rabbits, chipmunks, etc.) that might eat the plant, we’re still not convinced that it’s a great idea to ship thousands of seedlings with plastic tubes. We wish that the tube was made from something biodegradable (corn-based starches?). And what about the wood stakes? Are they from FSC-certified plantations? The enclosed materials don’t say.

The planting instructions were clear and after no more than 30 minutes work, the tree was planted, staked and entubed. I’m a bit skeptical that the tube will let in enough sunlight to allow the tree to grow, but we’ll report back on the tree’s progress from time to time.

Overall, we love the idea of any program that encourages tree planting and encourages Americans to consider the connection between trees and beloved historical figures (some of whom, like Henry David Thoreau, were themselves nature lovers or amateur botanists).

And of course we’re happy if the Historic Tree program brings more supporters to American Forests, which promotes tree planting, urban forestry, environmental education and community-based forestry.

But we do wish that American Forests would find a way to make the accessories that ship with its trees a bit in keeping with the earth-loving spirit of the trees themselves. Perhaps we’re asking too much? If anyone has experience with growing tree seedlings, we’d love to hear if there are greener options for protecting the little seedlings until they’re strong enough to fend for themselves…

Where to buy:

Order your 1-3ft. tall Historic Tree seedling directly from the American Forests’ Historic Tree website. Give the gift of Historic Trees with E-Gift certificates in $25, $40, $50, $75 or $100 donations.