Avondale Estates now has 30 granite tree markers sprouting along the verges (that planting strip between the street and the sidewalk) of Lakeshore, Clarendon, and Wiltshire, according to a press release.
They were placed over two Saturdays in March by members of the City’s Arboretum Board and volunteers from the Avondale Estates Garden Club.
Back in May 2019 the Board of Mayor and Commissioners established the City’s Arboretum Board for the purpose of establishing an Avondale Neighborhood Arboretum which would serve as a tree museum to be enjoyed by residents and visitors. Normally an arboretum is found in a botanical park or nature preserve. Neighborhood arboreta are a little different because they encompass an entire community, and may include trees found in yards, city street verges as well as parks.
By bringing the arboretum to neighborhood streets where residents walk, exercise, and socialize, neighbors can actually live in this tree museum. The Arboretum Board will soon supply the City with the complete list of trees species planted in the verges of the City’s Historic District.
With the placement of these 30 granite markers, the first steps have been taken for the establishment and accreditation of an Avondale Estates Arboretum. The first 30 markers were donated to the City by the Avondale Estates Garden Club.
The supplier, D&S Monuments in Dalton, is ready to take orders for additional markers which are 8-inch by 8-inch by 6-inch granite blocks engraved with the botanical name and common name of the tree.
All the city needs is the funds to do so, and is encouraging residents to help by purchasing a marker. The cost of each marker is $70 (if the city orders 30 or more). The Arboretum Board’s partner, Avondale Estates Garden Club, has agreed to accept and keep an accounting of all donated funds.
To make a donation for a granite tree marker:
By check: Make your check payable to AEGC with a memo noting it is for the Avondale Arboretum and mail it to the Club’s treasurer, Peg Wyse, at 1 Lakeshore Plaza, Avondale Estates, GA 30002
By PayPal: send a $72.64 (the extra $2.64 is to cover PayPal’s transaction fee) PayPal payment to AEGC using the address aegardenclub1932@gmail.com. and noting that the payment is for the Avondale Arboretum.
Once the Arboretum Board has raised $2,100 (the cost of 30 markers), it will place the order.
Information: Arboretum Board Chairman Steve Sanchez at ssanchez@hgor.com.
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