by Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler
A day of celebration
Briarcliffe Acres, Horry County
This year, Briarcliffe Acres celebrated three momentous achievements: 50 years as an incorporated town, 16 years as a Firewise Community and three years as a Tree City USA. The celebration of all three achievements took place the morning of April 25 in the median of Center Drive.
The North Myrtle Beach Fire Department brought a fire truck, an ambulance and an amphibious search & rescue boat for children to climb aboard and learn about.
The art table was filled with adults and kids painting their impressions of beautiful tree photos from their neighborhood.
A tai chi class filled Center Drive with residents and their gracefully flowing movements.
Joey Arakas of Joe’s Bar & Grill in North Myrtle Beach offered free and fantastic grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and cookies to many grateful people.
For dessert, a Mister Softee ice cream truck brought cold sweet treats to top off lunch.
Around noon, Mayor David Buonviri thanked everyone for attending and spoke about the importance of the day’s three achievements. Tammy Hetzer, chairperson of the Tree Advisory Board, then informed the audience that to honor the half century of Briarcliffe Acres’ incorporation, the town will give 50 trees to residents to plant in their yards. In addition, the town is developing a town-wide Level 1 Accredited Arboretum, implementing Morton Arboretum’s accreditation program, ArbNet. Hetzer named 10 trees and their homeowners that were nominated and chosen that year in order to begin collecting the 25 trees for a Level 1 Accredited Arboretum. Next year, more trees and homeowners will be chosen. The town of Briarcliffe Acres will join the cities of Aiken and Greenville in having an entire municipality designated an Accredited Arboretum.
Then, SCFC Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler spoke about the benefits of the town’s new tree canopy cover map and its extraordinary tree canopy.
Through Mayor Pro Tempore Peggy Bell, Briarcliffe Acres received a Tree Canopy Map Grant in 2025 from the Forestry Commission.
In this grant, the nonprofit agency Green Infrastructure Center determined that 62% of the town was covered in tree canopy.
This percentage is greater than any other city that received a tree canopy cover map from the Forestry Commission.
All towns on the South Carolina coastline are experiencing a large influx of tourists and new residents, and each town wants to receive the benefits of the right tree in the right place for multiple benefits: shade, traffic noise mitigation, pollution capture and to reduce the amount of stormwater running into roads, yards, homes and businesses. The Town of Briarcliffe Acres is working hard to preserve its valuable, championship tree canopy cover and to not let it decline.
Tree giveaways
Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University held an Arbor Day Celebration and Native Tree Giveaway Friday, April 24 for citizens, students, faculty and staff. This year marks Coastal Carolina’s 4th Native Tree Giveaway, and the day also included an Arbor Day celebration for the university’s third year earning a Tree Campus Higher Education Award from the Arbor Day Foundation.
The native tree giveaway was hosted by the CCU Arboretum, and founding and present Director of the CCU Arboretum Dr. Dominique Werboff organized the event. To participants, CCU offered:
- sugarberry (Celtis laevigata)
- basswood (Tilia americana)
- sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- winged elm (Ulmus alata)
- persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
- pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
- black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)
- dahoon holly (Ilex cassine)
- southern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola)
- red buckeye (Aesculus pavia)
Demand for native trees was high! Two hundred trees were provided, and all but 18 were quickly taken.
Coastal Carolina University has the distinguished prestige of not only obtaining three years of Tree Campus Higher Education Awards but also having their entire 322-acre main campus recognized as a Level II Accredited Arboretum by the Morton Arboretum.
The creation of the arboretum was led by Dr. Werboff with hands-on teamwork from students in her Human Environments class and a student organization called SPROUT.
South Carolina universities, take note! Please, join CCU in obtaining both these extraordinary achievements!
City of Florence
The City of Florence held its annual April Tree Giveaway Wednesday, April 29, at 4 p.m. at the Trailhead at Naturally Outdoors. Florence Public Works Director Adam Swindler and Manager Matthew Watts organized the event with sponsor Duke Energy. Scott Murphy and Hunter Morgan of Naturally Outdoors, Streets Supervisor Isaiah Harley, Florence Beautification & Facilities Division team members and non-profit Keep Florence Beautiful contributed to and participated in the tree giveaway.
Florence Public Works offered 105 trees to people who registered in advance, and many of those trees were taken within the first hour. Species provided were:
- Willow oak (Quercus phellos)
- Princeton elm (Ulmus americana ‘Princeton’)
- Forest Pansy redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’)
- Magnolia ‘Jane’ (Magnolia x ‘Jane’)
SCFC Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler, previously of the Pee Dee Region, gave a tree planting presentation before people were called out to choose their tree.
All the trees found forever homes by 6pm, and with that success, Florence Public Works is working to host a second tree giveaway in October 2026!
Tree Campus designations
Clemson University
Clemson University earned its 17th year Tree Campus Higher Education Award from the Arbor Day Foundation in 2025. This award reflects the university’s high standards and excellence of work on the campus trees. SCFC Statewide Urban Forestry Coordinator Frances Waite and Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler presented the award to the Director of Landscape Services/University Facilities, Thomas Fallow, and Campus Arborist Keegan Bodiford April 22.
Clemson University consistently achieves the five standards needed to receive a Tree Campus Higher Education Award.
First, the university established a Campus Tree Advisory Committee that included at least one student and one member of the faculty, facility management, and community.
Second, the university presented its annual budget for tree work, showing how and where the money was spent.
Third, the university developed a Campus Tree Care Plan with policies on tree protection, tree planting, pruning, and removal with their goal of maintaining the tree canopy with no net loss. The tree care plan states the significant recreational, environmental, educational, and aesthetic benefits of the trees to students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the campus.
Fourth, the university created student-led service projects on campus or out in the community.
And, fifth, the university celebrated Arbor Day!
Clemson University is nationally and internationally well-regarded for its trees. This includes the Clemson University Forest, the South Carolina Botanical Garden and having over two dozen of South Carolina’s Champion Trees. Clemson University captures many awards, but sustaining so many beautiful trees for the benefit of everyone is truly an exceptional, wood-solid, living legacy.
Presbyterian College, Clinton
Presbyterian College was awarded its 10th year Tree Campus Higher Education Award in 2025 by the Arbor Day Foundation. SCFC Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler presented the award to the Executive Director of Facilities, Scott Respass, and Professor of Biology Dr. Michael O. Rischbieter May 6.
Afterwards, Mr. Respass and Dr. Rischbieter took Huyler on a tour of the main campus. Presbyterian College is filled with historic buildings, a serene pond and a notable array of trees and shrubs; towering oaks and hickories, flowering azaleas, dogwoods, magnolias and more, all set within beautiful landscaping and natural woods.
The college was hit hard when Hurricane Helene rolled through September 27, 2024, damaging buildings, infrastructure and campus trees.
The combination of wind and rain pulled trees out of the ground and broke limbs, creating hazards to people and property. Amidst repairs to buildings and infrastructure, the college worked to remove 55 hazardous trees and to prune dangerous limbs.
During this time, alumni were contacting Presbyterian College and asking how they could help. While the college had replanted 24 trees, Mr. Respass and Dr. Rischbieter thought Presbyterian College deserved something more special.
Teaming up with the Alumni Engagement Coordinator, Jeff Smith, Assistant Professor of Biology, Dr. Sabrina Moore, S.G.A. President, Alex Melgar, and the Administrative Assistant to the President, Kate Orcutt, they are discussing the potential to develop the main campus into a Level 1 Accredited Arboretum. With potential participation of alumni, an endowment could be created to help fund tree planting and maintenance of the arboretum.
Presbyterian College readily has the 25 woody species, trees and shrubs, to become accredited as a Level 1 Arboretum through Morton Arboretum’s website, ArbNet. If the college obtains both Tree Campus status and their main campus as an accredited arboretum, they would become the second in the state to do so. Coastal Carolina University is currently the only university/college to have Tree Campus status and their entire main campus as an accredited arboretum, though at Level II.
Trees are a complete legacy, and through their life, they provide environmental, educational, financial, aesthetic and health benefits to people and wildlife around the world. In their death, their wood gives us homes, furniture, fuel, art, compost and now wind turbines 340 feet tall, plus Japanese magnolia satellites orbiting the earth. Tree Campus Higher Education Awards and Accredited Arboretum recognition open universities/colleges, students, faculty, staff and surrounding communities to possibilities and long-lived legacies far beyond the basics mentioned above.
USC Upstate, Spartanburg
The Arbor Day Foundation awarded USC Upstate its 18th year Tree Campus Higher Education Award in 2025. USC Upstate’s 18 years are the greatest number of Tree Campus awards achieved by any university and college in South Carolina; Clemson University and USC Columbia each have 17 years. SCFC Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler presented the award to Director of Building and Landscape Services Bruce Suddeth May 14.
USC Upstate takes its campus greenspace seriously.
The 12-acre Susan Jacobs Arboretum contains at least 130 tree species and 80 shrub species and twelve gardens.
The six-acre Rotary International Peace Park holds almost 400 trees.
With 200 acres of campus greenspace management, including 25,000 square feet of landscaped beds, USC Upstate said it could do even more.
Two years ago, USC Upstate received a food forest grant from the Forestry Commission.
At least 300 plants, producing fruit, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs were established in a greenspace pocket between University Way and Valley Falls Road behind the Health Services building.
This venture was created to help feed students, faculty, staff and the surrounding Spartanburg community and provide hands-on education in urban horticulture.
Winthrop University, Rock Hill
Winthrop University earned its fifth year as a Tree Campus Higher Education from the Arbor Day Foundation. SCFC Piedmont Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler presented the Tree Campus award to Winthrop University Campus Sustainability Coordinator Christopher Johnson and Assistant Vice President for Facilities James Grigg.
Winthrop University, well known for its Historic District and the 20 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, is also well known for its landscaping, tall shade trees and a diverse collection of tree species.
A much beloved campus ginkgo (Ginkgo spp.) is estimated to be a century old due to when it was planted in front of Margaret Nance Hall, built in 1895.
Winthrop University also celebrates a campus southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), previously decorated with lights as the official Christmas tree before it grew too big, for winning recognition as a 2010 Heritage Tree by the nonprofit organization, TreesSC.
Winthrop University works hard to create and maintain a beautiful, tree-shaded campus, preserving its past, benefiting its present, and improving its future.