PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia horticultural icon is hanging up her garden shears after more than 40 years.
The “Tree Queen,” or as others call her, the “Tree Lady,” has come by these terms of endearment honestly. For 42 years, Lori Maple Hayes of Germantown has curated parks all over the city with her mighty lawn mower and her pride. Now, she plans to retire from her work with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation this fall.
“It's funny, I cut grass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and I loved it,” she told KYW Newsradio. “People were like, ‘That's what you want to do?’”
Born and raised in a Germantown row home, Hayes yearned for green spaces during her youth.
“I cut grass. I’m a city girl. Look at where we are. I’m in a row house. There’s no lawn here. So I learned how to maneuver the tractors and I was good.”
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As the city’s director of urban forestry, Hayes served six mayors and curated almost every major park in the city. She even met United States presidents. However, she says her biggest accomplishment was completing breast cancer treatment.
“I’m a local girl, but as my health progresses, I want to branch out. I want to go, get on planes,” she shared. Her first stop will be Tallahassee, Florida, to visit family and friends.
As she looks back on her career, Hayes says she was lucky to have heard her calling early in life.
“It was just being a representative of greenery. I’ve been green for so long,” she said. “Like, it wasn’t cool when I was cutting grass because I wore work boots, but it was fulfilling inside.”
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