YPG plants new trees to celebrate Earth Day

News 11 reporter Melissa Zaremba tells us how locals are pitching in to help our environment

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY-TV) - Every year on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day, raising awareness about pollution and ways to maintain a clean habitat.

“I’m just excited about planting trees,” said student Adriel Cruz Garcia. 

Earth Day serves as a reminder of how fragile and important plants are. 

“They can grow up to be that building over there,” said Garcia. 

Locals at Yuma Proving Grounds (YPG) got their hands dirty to celebrate, planting about 40 new native trees.

It’s important to celebrate Earth Day by planting new trees and plants for our environment. This one here is a freshly planted tree that only needs a few inches of water throughout the year.

YPG is testing the newly planted trees to see if they survive with less water.

“Irrigation is of course expensive, it takes water so we are looking to do it more efficiently,” said Wildlife Biologist Daniel Steward. 

Using water boxes could be the solution to give the proper amount of water. 

“These are desert trees they don’t need a lot just enough to get these roots a head start on these little trees so after a year or two of development, these trees can go with no irrigation and no help at all and we will have more native plants,” said Steward.

YPG will also test how often they fill their water boxes and hope to see these trees grow.

Even if you can’t plant a new tree today, taking a bike to work or making sure to recycle are all ways to celebrate earth day and help our planet.