PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society distributed 1,400 trees that will be planted throughout the Philadelphia region, just in time for Earth Day.
Volunteers from dozens of communities throughout Greater Philadelphia pulled their vehicles up to a parking lot under I-95 in South Philadelphia to pick up trees of various species.
Bonnie Hallam of Upper Darby has a PHS Tree Tender certification and will help to plant 20 trees in her township on Earth Day, Saturday.
“Some of them will go in people’s front yards and some will go in ... the grassy area between the curb and the pavement.”
PHS does the tree distribution and planting two times a year – in April and November. Julianne Schrader Ortega, the vice president and chief of healthy neighborhoods at PHS, says there is a variety of tree species available.
“If we were only planting the same 1,400 trees, it would leave the area susceptible if a pest came through, like the emerald ash borer. It’s really important to have diversity of species in order to have a healthy canopy that can be sustained for the long term.”
Ortega says trees help communities make their neighborhoods greener, safer and healthier.
PHS Tree Tenders have helped plant over 25,000 trees since the program began in 1993. Thousands of volunteer tree tenders are expected to participate this year.
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