East Point Breeze Neighbors News

Yard trees, street trees and empty tree pits

The Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation’s TreePhilly campaign is giving away free yard trees. South Philly’s Yard Tree Giveaway is 4 to 7 p.m. April 27 and 1 to 4 p.m. April 28 at Mifflin Square Park, 500 Wolf St. The deadline to apply is March 31.

Your yard space must measure at least 10-by-10 feet for a small tree, which can grow up to 30 feet tall, and 30-by-30 feet for a large tree, which can grow up to 70 feet tall. The tree species can be chosen at pickup. There is a limit of one per address.

To sign up for a yard tree, the property owner may fill out the application. It’s also available in six other languages.

The TreePhilly initiative also will take care of stump removal and fill any empty pits. To request those services, fill out the Tree Maintenance Citizen Service Request Form To request a street tree in front of your house, download the application and e-mail it to green@newboldneighbors.org.

To volunteer for our spring tree planting April 21, RSVP on Facebook or e-mail green@newboldneighbors.org.

Join Newbold Neighbors this Saturday as we plant, prune, and tend to our neighborhood trees!  Please meet in front of DiSilvestro Rec Center at 15th and Morris Sts at 10am.  Get in touch with the Green committee chair, Amanda Snyder, with any questions.

It's that time of year again! Newbold Neighbors is getting 16 more trees to go in the ground around the neighborhood, and volunteers are needed this Saturday, November 19th.  Aside from the actual tree planting, we'll also be sending the groups out with some tree tending tools to care for some of our existing trees.

Volunteers should meet at the courtyard in front of the Free Library and the Health Center at Broad and Morris Sts.  Come at 9am to get fueled up on bagels (thanks to South Philly Bagels), KIND Bars, coffee (thanks to Ultimo Coffee), and other refreshments.  At 9:30, we'll go over basic tree planting techniques before we split into groups and head off to dig!

Would you like a tree in front of your property?  We'll have blank tree applications at the planting on Saturday, or you click here for the application.  You can drop it off Saturday morning or email it to trees@newboldneighbors.org.  The deadline for the Spring 2012 planting is this Sunday, November 20th.

From our good friends over at PHS:

WATER, WATER, WATER! Just a friendly reminder to water your trees extra this week!  15 gallons, 2 times this week would be ideal.  Extra watering during heat waves is critical for trees planted in the past year, so be sure to look out for any trees planted in the past year.

Also, the deadline for applications for the Spring 2010 planting is August 12th, 2011, so get those applications filled out and submitted soon!

To your street tree, heat waves feel like the desert!  We've got a list of tree care tips for you to check out too.  Any help you can give to the trees on your block will pay dividends for years to come in terms of shade, cleaner air, higher home resale value, and your ability to lay in a hammock.