Jane Powell
April 18, 2026
Springtime in Appalachia is happening all around us, and it is glorious.
You may be tiptoeing through the tulips, staking peonies, bringing handfuls of daffodils inside arrangements, or even planting onions. Spring is a busy time in the garden.
What if you took the afternoon off and strolled along the riverbank under the trees filled with spring bloom? Sounds perfect, right?
Thanks to The Appalachian Spring Project (TASP), Charleston’s initiative to plant 1,000 trees and strengthen the city’s tree canopy, this will soon be possible.
The project is off to a good start and has planted 200 trees in various areas of Charleston. Two hundred trees! The environment is already adapting – a bird has moved in and built a nest in one of the newly planted trees.
To celebrate Earth Day (April 22), Arbor Day (April 24), and TASP, the City of Charleston’s Municipal Beautification Commission, in partnership with the Kanawha Garden Club, will host FREE community events.
These events include something for everyone. Guided walks with the City’s arborist, Chris Higgins, an Arbor Day tree planting with Mayor Amy Goodwin at Celebration Station, a watercolor class led by Charleston’s own Beth Loflin, and a Flowering Tree Project led by Jeff Pierson, Director of the Office of Public Art.
There’s more – readings at the library, cookie decorating, and a greenhouse craft project for children at Capital Market. The full schedule can be found online here https://www.charlestonwv.gov/news-items/tue-03312026-1439/tasp-april-2026-programming
The don’t-miss event for me is the April 27 Urban Forestry talk by Mark Buscaino, Senior Advisor to Casey Trees in Washington, DC. Casey Trees works to support the beauty and health of the trees in the capital area and to educate the public about the importance of urban forestry.
Education and hard work are both important parts of this month’s activities, and something both the Kanawha Garden Club and the Municipal Beautification Commission believe in. These groups, and I would suggest most garden groups, work to educate their members and communities year-round.
Yes, there are many activities planned in April to celebrate the Earth and the trees, and I’m all for whatever it takes to make kids and adults aware of our landscape. But adding trees to our landscape is serious business.
Along the Kanawha Boulevard, a variety of ornamental cherries and other flowering trees will be planted to create springtime drama. To keep these trees strong, other native trees will be added. This diversity of species will work to sustain a healthy urban canopy.
Healthy trees work to create healthy communities. As Anna Forbes, Chair of Charleston’s Municipal Beautification Commission, reminded me, “beauty also serves as an important community and mental health salve by offering cooling summer shade, softening of urban noise, filtration of air pollutants, and being good neighbors to our birds and other wildlife.”
The Project also hopes to add an economic edge to Charleston. Thriving cities have plans in place to create and maintain parks, streetscapes, and green space respites for residents and visitors.
“The Appalachian Spring Project reflects Charleston’s commitment to growing a healthier, greener community for future generations,” said Anna Forbes. “Trees do more than beautify our city—they strengthen neighborhoods, improve environmental health, drive economic development, and create spaces where people want to live and gather.”
Let me be clear, this project is for the entire city of Charleston. To kick off the project last fall, there was a ceremonial planting of 30 trees: two crabapples in front of City Hall, six Kwanzan cherries in Ruffner Park, and six Yoshino cherries at the Governor’s mansion. Others at the intersection of Airport Road and Greenbrier Street, Magic Island, and the western end of Kanawha Boulevard.
This spring, 200 trees, including Kwanzans and dogwoods, have been planted in areas such as Spring Hill Cemetery, Ruffner Park, an East End playground, Edgewood Drive, South Hills, and Kanawha City.
A row of Kwanzans has been planted at Magic Island. This area is tricky because of flooding and, believe it or not, beavers and beaver fencing. Research shows that if the trees can survive the first two years, they should continue to mature and provide much-needed shading to the area.
This fall, look for tree varieties, including additional cherries (Yoshinos, Okame, Kwanzans) as well as crabapples, serviceberries, dogwoods, redbud, magnolias, crape myrtles, maples, oaks, pines, willows, bald cypress, and sycamores, to be planted along the Boulevard and in other areas of the city.
The Appalachian Spring Tree Project will add beauty and value to Charleston. Projects like this happen because of strong leaders like Anna Forbes and strong partnerships such as The Kanawha Garden Club.
“Kanawha Garden Club couldn’t be more excited to support The Appalachian Spring Project. Planting a thousand trees is an investment in our city’s future — in cleaner air, more beautiful neighborhoods, and a greener Charleston for generations to come. We’re honored to be part of this effort,” said Anne Silbernagel, President of the Kanawha Garden Club.
If you can’t plant a tree, no worries. Take a walk, attend class, or participate in an art project. The City is branching out with a month of activities for one and all in celebration of the might oak and hundreds of native and naturalized flowering trees.