Tu B'Shvat - Festival of Trees
New Year of Trees, Jewish Arbor Day, landscape plants, traditions
TuB'Shvat (Tu Bishvat) – TOO bish-VAHT - starts the night of Friday February 2, 2007. Often this day is dubbed:
- The Jewish Arbor Day,
- The New Year of the Trees, or
- The Festival of the Trees
How does this minor Jewish holiday relate to landscape gardening? A day set aside for trees offers time to consider their importance in neighborhood and personal landscapes and gardens. The time for TuB'Shvat (February or March) is perfect to plan for (in cool climates) or plant (in warmer climates) new trees in landscapes and gardens.
TuB'Shvat celebrates the beginning of the agricultural year in Israel when fruit trees, especially apricots, come into bloom. Deciduous fruit trees are dormant in Israel during the cold rainy wet season. TuB'Shvat was originally the ancient time for calculating the age and fertility of trees for tithing of their value.
Because TuB'Shvat was also the time for celebrating spring, numerous traditions to commemorate TuB'Shvat have developed over generations. One of these customs is tree planting, a fairly modern-day practice. First observed in Israel in 1890, and then more formally adopted in 1908, planting trees in Israel directly relates to this country's reforestation efforts.
Far from Israel, TuB'Shvat is a first-rate time to assess trees in home landscapes. Trees are not only the backbone and physical structure in functional landscape designs, they can be valuable symbols of treasured memories and significant beliefs.
One way to celebrate TuB'Shvat is by planting trees chronicled in Torah and Bible passages. Two problems exist with a list that symbolizes the ancient Biblical Landscapes:
- These plants do best in warm climates – hardiness zone 7 or warmer, and
- They are all too large for home landscapes and grapes, especially, sprawl.
To overcome these problems consider:
- Choosing dwarf cultivars. This may take some detective work, but it should be interesting and educational if the whole family participates. And
- Plant trees in commercial container-mix soil in large weatherproof containers. Store, if necessary, in a cool but frost-free area during the winter months. Grapes grow well up trellises and pruning controls growth.
Below are seven suggested trees and one vine, some cultivars of each, and their plant hardiness zones:
- Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera or Phoenix roebelenii Pigmy Date Palm - zones 9 or warmer
- Sycomore Fig Ficus sycomorus or Carica Fig Ficus carica and cultivars 'Brown Turkey,' 'Oregon Honey,' 'Celeste' and 'Danny's Delight' - zones 7 - 10
- Pomegranate Punica granatum cultivar 'Wonderful' - zones 7 - 10
- Olive Olea europaea variety oleaster - zone 9 -10
- Carob Ceratonia siliqua - zone 9
- Various Nuts such as Almond Prunus amygdalus (Amydalus communis) cultivar ' Garden Prince' - zones 8-9
- Grapes / Raisins Vitis vinifera cultivar 'Purpurea' - zones 5- 8
Consider these other articles about Celebrating with Trees:
- Trees: The Gift of Love
- Trees: The Gift of Love – II
- Trees: The Gift of Love - III
- Trees and Love: Sources
©Text and photograph by Georgene A. Bramlage February 2007. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
