Area students help add ficus tree to North County Road canopy

Palm Beach Daily News
·1 min read
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The young people in bright yellow hard hats and wielding shovels weren't there to cut ribbons or take part in a groundbreaking for a new retail center.

The students from Palm Beach Day Academy, Palm Beach Public Elementary and Rosarian Academy took part Thursday in a tree-planting effort to mark Arbor Day next week. The children filled in dirt around a Florida strangler fig (Ficus aurea) in the North County Road canopy.

"The Ficus aurea tree is one of the few ficus trees native to Florida, and that makes it naturally resistant to pests and weather," said arborist Richard Maxwell.

The strangler fig (Ficus aurea) planted Thursday was donated to the down by CC Growers of Boynton Beach. The event was coordinated by the Garden Club of Palm Beach.
The strangler fig (Ficus aurea) planted Thursday was donated to the down by CC Growers of Boynton Beach. The event was coordinated by the Garden Club of Palm Beach.

Maxwell said the tree and labor to install it were donated by CC Growers, a Boynton Beach-based tree farm. The Garden Club of Palm Beach coordinated Thursday's event.

The second-graders got a practical lesson in tree-planting, which is just as well, said event co-chair Jennifer Lazzara. She said said local second-graders were included in Thursday's activity because the planting of native trees lines up with their "natural curriculum focus."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Students assist in Arbor Day planting of strangler fig tree