A free guided tour of the Capitol Campus grounds will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, as part of Olympia’s 2015 Arbor Day celebration.
The tour will highlight the many historic trees that grace the west campus, which was designed in the late 1920s by the nationally renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape design team.
Space is limited for the tour offered by state Department of Enterprise Services horticulturalist Brent Chapman. To reserve a space, send an RSVP to Chapman at brent.chapman@des.wa.gov. The tour lasts about 90 minutes and begins at the corner of Capitol Way and 11th Avenue.
Enterprise Services, which manages the 485-acre Capitol Campus, is also planting three new trees to commemorate Arbor Day. They include a Horstmann’s Silberlocke Korean fir on the east campus, an Autumn Radiance red maple in Marathon Park and an American beech in Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia. The beech tree replaces a 119-year-old beech that was damaged in the January 2012 ice storm, and had to be removed. That tree was planted by Edmund Sylvester in 1893 as part of the park dedication.
The trees, which will be planted prior to Arbor Day, were donated by the state Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Program.
As part of Saturday’s Arbor Day activities, the city of Olympia seeks volunteers to help remove invasive weeds and plant native trees at Grass Lake Refuge and Priest Point Park. The habitat restoration work runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The city also invites the public to a downtown Arbor Day celebration 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, at the Artesian Commons on Fourth Avenue. The event includes music, refreshments and a street tree planting. For more information, contact Tamara Lindner at tlindner@ci.olympia.wa.us or 360-753-8159.
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