PA Horticultural Society Volunteers To Plant 831 Trees During Earth Month

Volunteers trained by the PA Horticultural Society in Philadelphia and other partners will plant 831 trees in the city and surrounding counties as part of Earth Month (April), including plantings dedicated to a longtime community activist who was slain earlier this year.

PHS Tree Tenders groups from throughout the region will pick up the bare-root trees this week at the PHS Warehouse at the Navy Yard, and plant the trees on April 21 through 23.

The plantings will be conducted by 29 Tree Tender groups in Philadelphia and 25 groups in the surrounding counties.

Highlights of the tree plantings include:

Memorial Trees

The UC Green organization will plant 31 trees on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, in University City, including one tree planted in Clark Park in memory of Winnie Harris, who was UC Green’s interim executive director and a driving force in the beautification of her Powelton neighborhood. Winnie was found slain in her home in February.

A walking procession will leave from the City School parking lot, 41st Street near Baltimore Avenue, at 10 a.m. for the memorial tree planting and short ceremony at Clark Park, 45th and Chester Streets.

PHS Tree Tenders will honor Winnie by tagging a tree dedicated to her memory in each neighborhood planting across the city.

Philly Tree People

More than 100 volunteers from the community and TD Bank will participate in the planting of 96 trees on Sunday, April 23, beginning at 9:30 a.m., at 2771 Jasper St., coordinated by Philly Tree People, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and PHS.

The planting is funded by a $20,000 grant for tree planting and maintenance in the Kensington/Fishtown neighborhood awarded through TD Green Streets, a program of TD Bank and the Arbor Day Foundation supporting innovation in urban forestry.

A ceremony to thank the partners and volunteers will be held at 1 p.m. at Philadelphia Brewing Company, 2440 Frankford Ave. (Entrance at Martha and Hagert Streets.)

TreeVitalize Watersheds Crew

The Philadelphia City Rowing program, which provides city public school students with the opportunity to join a Schuylkill rowing crew, will participate in a TreeVitalize Watersheds planting on April 22, at 11:30 a.m.

More than 30 students and their PCR mentors will practice on the river in the morning, then disembark at the disabled rowers dock on the west side of the river. They will run the mile to the planting site, and add 50 trees to the Fairmount Park landscape.

Home Runs for Trees

To launch the sixth season of “Home Runs for Trees,” a partnership of the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Gas Works and PHS, a tree will be planted at the Congreso Education and Training Center, West Somerset and American Streets, on April 26 at 10 a.m.

Joining in the planting ceremony will be senior citizens who participate in programs coordinated by Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a nonprofit organization that strengthens Latino communities through social, economic, education and health services, leadership development and advocacy.

For each home run hit by a Phillies player this season, a tree will be planted by PHS in locations such as parks, urban neighborhoods, and watershed areas.

PHS Tree Training Programs

At the forefront of the urban tree movement across the U.S., the PHS Tree Tenders program is one of the oldest, most respected volunteer urban tree planting and stewardship efforts.

The program trains participants in choosing the right trees for urban settings, proper planting methods, pruning and tree care.

Working in neighborhood groups, the volunteers are responsible for planting 2,000 trees each year. The next classes start May 2 in Plymouth Meeting and May 8 at PHS in Philadelphia.

These efforts are part of Plant One Million, the campaign to restore the region’s tree canopy.

The campaign encompasses 13 counties in three states and is led by PHS, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the TreeVitalize Program of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the New Jersey Tree Foundation, and the Delaware Center for Horticulture.

Click Here to view a map of the tree planting locations.

For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the PA Horticultural Society website, Like PHS on Facebook, Join PHS on Instagram and Follow on Twitter.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from PHS.

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