Arbor Day 2026: Why Do We Celebrate Arbor Day?

“Other holidays repose upon the past;
Arbor Day proposes for the future.”

–J. Sterling Morton

When Is Arbor Day?

Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April, although some states observe it on dates that better coincide with the local area’s planting times. For instance, Hawaii celebrates Arbor Day on the first Friday of November, and Alaskans celebrate it on the third Monday in May. Find out when your state observes Arbor Day.

What Is Arbor Day?

Arbor Day, much like Earth Day, is a holiday that celebrates nature.

Its purpose is to encourage people to plant trees, and many communities traditionally take the opportunity to organize tree-planting and litter-collecting events on or around the holiday.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
   He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
   And years that fade and flush again;
      He plants the glory of the plain;
      He plants the forest’s heritage;
      The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see—
These things he plants who plants a tree.

–Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855–96), in The Heart of the Tree 

A popular Arbor Day tradition is to plant a tree in honor or memory of a loved one. 

The History of Arbor Day

Julius Sterling Morton, an avid tree planter and enthusiast, created Arbor Day. 

The first Arbor Day occurred on April 10, 1872, in Nebraska City, Nebraska. It’s estimated that nearly one million trees were planted on this day.

By 1885, Arbor Day had become a legal holiday in Nebraska. (The date was changed to April 22 to honor Morton’s birthday.) On that day, thousands of Nebraska City citizens turned out for one big party, including 1,000 schoolchildren who formed a parade.

Within 20 years of its creation, the holiday was celebrated in every American state except Delaware, which eventually joined in.

Morton found it particularly pleasing that schools across the country began celebrating Arbor Day by dedicating the trees they planted to special people.

Who Was Julius Sterling Morton?

Morton was born in Adams, New York, in 1832, but his life took a decisive turn on his wedding day in October 1854. After he and his bride, Caroline Joy French, were married in Detroit, they headed west for adventure in the wilds of Nebraska Territory. The couple settled on 160 treeless acres (the key word here is treeless).

Despite having a busy career and four sons, Morton planted thousands of trees on the homestead he called the Morton “ranche.” He planted an apple orchard, as well as peach, plum, and pear trees, plus cottonwoods, evergreens, beeches, and more.

Morton took every opportunity he could to spread the word. He gave speeches and filled his newspaper with agricultural advice, urging Nebraskans to plant trees and try new crops. 

Today, the family home, Arbor Lodge, is a state park in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Over the years, Arbor Lodge grew from a four-room home into a 52-room mansion, complete with a terraced garden, a pine grove, and 65 acres of more than 250 varieties of trees and shrubs.

J. Sterling Morton died on April 27, 1902, at the age of 70. Just a month earlier, he had written that he hoped to plant trees as soon as the weather turned warm. A statue of him stands in the National Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.

Highlights from Morton’s Career

• Morton worked as a journalist and a politician, becoming secretary and acting governor of the Nebraska Territory from 1858 to 1861.
• In 1872, Morton declared: “If I had the power, I would compel every man in the State who had a home of his own to plant out and cultivate fruit trees.”    
• In 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed him U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He also served on the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture and the State Horticultural Society.

Fun Fact: Arbor Day was almost called Sylvan Day, which means “wooded.” Several members of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture favored it, but Morton argued that sylvan refers only to forest trees and that the name Arbor Day was most inclusive, covering forest trees and fruit trees.

The Power of Trees

1. Trees support our health and the health of our planet! They clean our air and water. They provide shade, which cools our urban areas. Even on a personal level, trees have been proven to calm us and reduce our stress levels.
2. Trees also support wildlife and our entire ecosystem. One oak trees attracts thousands of pollinators and beneficial insects! Trees provide birds and aquatic animals with habitats. In addition, they provide humans with powerful medicine, materials for living, and agriculture.
3. Finally, trees are our biggest allies as the world climate warms; they are a cost-effective way to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere today. Planting even one tree makes a difference.

Early spring is a good time to plant trees. Enjoy our post on How to Plant a Tree! Also, watch our short video on How to Plant a Fruit Tree.

Let’s also take good care of the trees that we do have! Here are pruning pointers for shrubs and trees.

Do you celebrate Arbor Day? What types of trees do you have in your yard? Share with us below!