Treasured Trees aims to promote awareness, values of trees

Seen any cool trees lately? Trees that stand out?

Submit them to the city of Columbia’s Forestry and Beautification Department.

A city committee selects the trees it thinks are “treasured” and honors their caretakers as well. 

The program showcases people who care about trees and spend years taking care of them, Neiger said.

“We honor people who have trees that mean something to the neighborhood, the person or the community,” said Brian Neiger, the city’s superintendent for forestry and beautification.

The reasons a significant tree can be selected are numerous.

A tree can have: aesthetic or sentimental value, superior size or scarcity of species, an association with historical events, environmental benefits and value.

Or it could just have value to the person who nominates it.

“Maybe it was a great tree to climb,” said Amy Wright, landscape designer and arborist for Columbia. “Maybe you studied under that tree as a student or climbed that tree as a kid.”

Trees can be on public or private property. But the property owner of the tree’s location must be involved in the nomination process.

The program started in 2005 as a partnership between the city of Columbia, the Columbia Tree and Appearance Commission and the Columbia Garden Club, Neiger said.

“I purchased the most beautifully photographed calendar in Asheville of their Treasured Trees,” Susie Heyward, head of the civic beautification committee for Columbia Garden Club, told the Carolina News & Reporter.

Heyward felt inspired and started the program in Columbia.

She said her goal with the program is to help citizens see how a tree they’re planting will grow over time.

“At some point, I’d love to see a website showing the tree at its nursery size, 10 to 20 years old, and then as a larger, treasured tree,” Heyward said. “I think that would be incredibly educational.” 

Wright said there are many trees in the Midlands that stand out.

“You have trees that bloom in the springtime, like our cherry trees, they’re gorgeous,” Wright said. “You have the fall colors, like the ginkgo trees and with their bright yellow leaves. You have the maples with their bright orange, red and yellow leaves. You have evergreen trees that provide shade year round. You have the majesty of the live oaks with their stretching limbs.”

But not everyone notices.

“People aren’t necessarily aware that they’re all here,” Wright said. “So many people are busy looking down at their phones. They forget to look up sometimes.”

Neiger said 188 trees have been nominated since the program began – and every tree that’s been nominated is awarded.

Popular tree locations include USC’s Horseshoe, Congaree National Park, the State House grounds and Sesquicentennial State Park.

“The ginkgos are my personal favorite,” Heyward said. “Ride down Edisto Avenue from Heyward to Wheat Street the week before Thanksgiving for a feast of golden leaves.”

The ceremony is held at the governor’s mansion, and attendees are invited afterward for a tour of the mansion.

Nominees receive a certificate and are treated to food and tea in front of seasonal decorations, Wright said.

The ceremony is held on Dec. 6, which is Arbor Day for South Carolina.