NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On World Planting Day, the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Tree Foundation donated and planted 55 trees outside Meigs Middle School in Frederick Douglass Park.
The area had been in need of trees for years after a series of two tornadoes ripped about 200 trees from the grounds. The first was in 1933 followed by the 2020 tornadoes.
"Frederick Douglas Park has you know has seen a lot of bad days unfortunately being hit by two separate tornadoes. The walkway right behind us used to be lined completely with trees and there was just one tree remaining from that," explained Nashville Tree Foundation Executive Director Becca Morris.
The park is right next to the middle school which was originally the first black high school in Nashville.
The planting of dozens of trees on Tuesday was about more than providing shade and beautifying the area.
"We are so incredibly close to the highway and this provides a natural sound barrier. It's also supporting the environment from all of the everything that you can imagine that comes from being so close to an interstate," explained Morris. "Air pollution. It's something that we all understand to be something that we need to be working to reduce. Planting trees is going to improve the air quality. Asthma rates and Nashville is something that we should be paying attention to. We want cleaner air for our Nashville residents to breathe and planting trees is going to do that. Preserving our trees is going to do that."
The Arbor Day Foundation donated the trees and the Nashville Tree Foundation executed the planting and found local volunteers to help.
The Nashville organization said they are always looking for volunteers who want to help them plant trees to keep Nashville looking green.
Morris explained the change in any area takes time, "It's going to take years for them to grow to the magnitude of the trees that were here previous to the tornado but they're going to be giving back so much the community."
