Arbor Week - Making Our Country Beautiful !

In South Africa, Arbor Day was first celebrated in 1983. The event captured the imagination of people who recognized the need for raising awareness of the value of trees in our society. As sources of building material, food, medicine, and simple scenic beauty, trees play a vital role in the health and well-being of our communities. Collective enthusiasm for the importance of this issue in South Africa inspired the national government, in 1999, to extend the celebration of Arbor Day to National Arbor Week. From 1 to 7 September every year, schools, businesses and organizations are encouraged to participate in community "greening" events to improve the health and beauty of the local environment and propose a green future for South Africa.

So why not do your bit to make our area more beautiful and leave a lasting legacy by simply planting a tree! The 2011 Tree Of The Year is the Jacket Plum or Pappea capensis - This is a relatively common tree of the warm bushveld areas of Zululand, besides being a hardy and excellent tree for attracting birds and other animals to your garden (due to it's profusion of tasty fruit) the Jacket Plum has a whole host of traditional uses including the leaves, bark and the oil extracted from the seed are used medicinally against baldness, ringworm, nosebleeds, chest complaints, eye infections, and venereal disease. The bark is also traditionally used as a protective charm and research has reported that the leaves are very effective in killing snails.