Manatee County highlights Median Plantings-on Arbor Day 2022

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (April 29, 2022) – On National Arbor Day 2022, Manatee County is “taking it to the streets” to show off a unique way to help soften urban hardscapes by planting shrubs, plants and trees in medians between traffic lanes. Along a typically busy 53rd Avenue West (SR70) at 36th Street West, County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge praised the work of the County’s Property Management Department, whose landscape team members have installed nearly 5000 plants, and planted between 150 and 200 trees in dozens of medians across the county. “Right away, they shared the vision and jumped right on top of it, said the District Three Commissioner. “It has been a huge success.” Speakers from the Florida Forest Service and the Manatee County Environmental Lands Management and Acquisition Committee extolled the virtues of these median plantings, noting that each tree can help scrub about 50 pounds of carbon out of the air… right at the source. They also noted that Manatee County has been named a Tree City USA community fort the 13th straight year. The median beautification program is being rolled out in various locations around the county. Residents can expect to see more of the beautification projects coming soon… to a median near them. A brief video of the Arbor Day 2022 ceremony and comments from those on hand can be found on the County YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/QPGKWChkgc0. For more information on Manatee County Government, visit www.mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/manatee.county.fl and on Twitter @ManateeGov. ### Bill Logan Information Outreach Manager Office: (941) 742-5866 Cell: (941) 274-0930 bill.logan@mymanatee.org