On Nov. 4, we'll be celebrating 100 years of Arbor Day in Hawai'i.

While it's always the first Friday in November in the Islands (and on other dates in other states), events are slated for the weekend.

In 1905, schools superintendent James Davis sent a letter to territorial Gov. George Carter asking for an official day to plant and care for trees and shrubs on school campuses. There were celebrations, proclamations and song.

For years, this was a significant event for keiki, providing memories for a lifetime. They could go home and "talk trees" to their parents and families.

Tree-planting and good care of the trees improve our quality of life and help make Honolulu a "Tree City USA."

This year, at Ka'iulani School in Kalihi, principal Charlotte White will plant a golden shower tree with the keiki and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona the day before, Nov. 4. In 1905, White's mother was a student when 15 golden shower trees were planted for Arbor Day. Now in her 90s, her health is fragile, but her eyes lit up with joy at the mention of Arbor Day and she started singing a long-ago song, White reports.

Trees and music help keep our brains active and alive.

Arborists like to say that every day is Arbor Day in Hawai'i Nei. Just about any day is a good day to plant and nurture trees so they grow and flourish year-round.

We do need more trees, especially on hot, urbanized O'ahu. It is so easy to cut down, bulldoze or hack at trees with mishandled chainsaws and bolo knives. It's much harder to plant and keep trees.

So, rather than plant just any tree in any place, we emphasize landscape planning, selecting the right tree for the right space.

For example, don't plant an elephant earpod tree or monkeypod on a tiny lot or in a 2-foot planting strip. Nor is it akamai to plant an ironwood or Norfolk pine under electrical or overhead wires. Such trees can grow 60 feet tall.

Before planting a tree, go outside, look up and check the planting site for overhead and side clearance. And if you have room for only one tree in your garden, choose something you like, will cherish and that will fit the space in the future.

Cutting down large, aggressive trees is much more expensive than not planting them.

My father always asks, "Can we eat it? What good is that tree, Heidi, if we can't eat it?" He likes to grow papayas, kalamungai, avocados and citrus.

Fruit trees make perfect plants for your home garden.

My mentor, May Moir, liked to have plants and trees with many functions. She had Chinese orange (yearly marmalade), mulberries, Portuguese roses and lots of plants for flower arranging. Her big plumeria trees were festooned with orchids, ferns, cacti and bromeliads.

It was a vertical display of gorgeous and useful vegetation.

Every Hawai'i garden needs a plumeria, don't you think? So beautiful and so useful, for a fragrant vertical display.

I'd like to extend a big mahalo to Jackie Lee Ralya of the Kaulunani urban forestry program, who dug deep into history for past Arbor Day events and also helped coordinate and plan many of these tree celebrations.

Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant. Send questions to islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com or Island Life, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Letters may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.