In Fall 2013 TreePhilly is partnering with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Tree Tenders® Program to offer free bare root yard trees for Tree Tenders community plantings!  This is an exclusive opportunity for recognized Tree Tenders groups only (see below to find out how you can start your own Tree Tenders group).  Tree Tenders can use this opportunity to organize yard tree plantings for residential properties, community facilities or faith-based institutions in their community.

Register to participate in the program here. 

After each Tree Tender group applies to the program, TreePhilly staff will send the group leader individual property owner request forms and a spreadsheet that the Tree Tenders group will submit to TreePhilly with their final order.  The bare root yard trees will be distributed along with the bare root street trees on Nov. 18^th for large Tree Tenders fall plantings on Nov. 22^nd or 23^rd.

Not a Tree Tenders Group Yet?

Thank you to everyone who came out to get their trees at our Spring 2013 TreePhilly Yard Tree Program events, and a special thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers!  We had a record pick up rate and many more walk-in participants than in years past, so most of our trees are now in good homes.  In addition, our Arbor Day volunteer tree planting event last Friday was a huge success (pics below).  Keep checking the website for information about tree planting and care, there are many more ways to get involved with Philadelphia’s urban forest!

(Volunteers from Wells Fargo and students from Chester Arthur School mulch a newly planted tree at Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia on Arbor Day)

(Mayor Michael Nutter and students from Chester Arthur School celebrate Philadelphia’s status as a Tree City for the 37th consecutive year!)

This past Saturday we had our last TreePhilly Yard Tree Program event of the season; over 100 people came out to Hunting Park to learn how to plant and care for their trees, choose the right trees for their home, and take their new trees home to plant!

(TreeKeepers Antonio and Arturo help select a Sweetbay Magnolia and a Serviceberry for Hunting Park residents to take home and plant in their yard)

But if you missed your chance to get a free tree, don’t despair!  TreePhilly will be celebrating Arbor Day this Friday, and we will bring some of the left over trees to the event to give away on a first-come, first-served basis.  Mayor Nutter will be there to address the group, so come early to hear him speak about trees in the city!

Last chance to get a tree:
Marian Anderson Recreation Center
740 S. 17th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Friday, April 26th, 1:45 to 4pm

See you there!

Erica, Andrew, and many wonderful Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Fairmount Park Conservancy staff unloaded thousands of yard trees at the nursery last week to get ready for the April giveaway events. These trees are beautiful, and some of them are big!  Read about each one and find out how big they will be when you pick them up:

Spring 2013 Yard Tree Types

(Erica stands next to the newly delivered Eastern Redbuds, which stand between 6 and 8 feet tall!)

Pre-registration for the TreePhilly Yard Tree Program is over, BUT anyone can still come to the giveaways as a walk-in participant in the second hour of each event.

• Sat. April 6th, 2-4pm, Second Baptist Church of Frankford (1801 Meadow St. 19124)
• Sun. April 7th, 11am-1pm, New Kensington CDC Garden Center (1825 Frankford Ave. 19125)
• Thurs. April 11th, 4:30-6:30pm, Haddington Library (446 N 65th St. 19151)
• Sat. April 13th, 10am-12pm, Columbus Square Playground (1200 Wharton St. 19147)
• Sat. April 13th, 10am-12pm, Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Rd. 19115)
• Sat. April 13th, 1-3pm, Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Rd. 19115)
• Sat. April 13th, 3-5pm, Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Rd. 19115)
• Sun. April 14th, 2-4pm, West Oak Lane Library (2000 Washington Lane, 19138)
• Sat. April 20th, 12-2pm, Hunting Park Recreation Center (900 Hunting Park Ave. 19140)

(Andrew grins next to the Sweetbay Magnolias, which stand between 3 and 4 feet tall)

Click here to register online for the Spring 2013 Yard Tree Program!

For those of you who have been dying to know, the spring tree list is in!  We will be giving away Sweetbay Magnolia, Serviceberry, Pawpaw, American Plum, American Hornbeam, Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Redbud, Black Gum, Red Maple, Scarlet Oak and Tulip Tree.

More information about tree types here.

Register online until March 31st and pick your trees up at any of the following giveaway events:

• Sat. April 6th, 2-4pm, Second Baptist Church of Frankford (1801 Meadow St. 19124)
• Sun. April 7th, 11am-1pm, New Kensington CDC Garden Center (1825 Frankford Ave. 19125)
• Thurs. April 11th, 4:30-6:30pm, Haddington Library (446 N 65th St. 19151)
• Sat. April 13th, 10am-12pm, Columbus Square Playground (1200 Wharton St. 19147)
• Sat. April 13th, 10am-12pm, Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Rd. 19115)
• Sat. April 13th, 1-3pm, Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Rd. 19115)
• Sat. April 13th, 3-5pm, Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Rd. 19115)
• Sun. April 14th, 2-4pm, West Oak Lane Library (2000 Washington Lane, 19138)
• Sat. April 20th, 12-2pm, Hunting Park Recreation Center (900 Hunting Park Ave. 19140)

Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is one of the species that will be available as part of the Spring 2013 Yard Tree Program.

Thanks to our partners Wells Fargo and the Fairmount Park Conservancy, we are proud to offer free trees to Philadelphia property owners again this spring!

Click here to pre-register for the spring giveaway!

This spring there are a few new and exciting features of the Yard Tree Program:

• Choose between 9 different pickup events when you register, and mark your calendar so you don’t forget to come get your tree!
• Get up to two trees per address, and up to ten trees if you are planting on a private property that has a community use, like a faith-based institution or a senior center!
• Free mulch will be available at most of the giveaway events, so bring home enough for your new tree!
• After you watch the tree planting and care demonstration, get a free raffle ticket and enter to win a slow release watering bag for your new tree ($25 value)!
• We can offer free delivery and planting for people with limited mobility!  There are only a few slots available, so click here to download the application.

 Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) is one of the species that will be available through the spring TreePhilly Yard Tree Program.

Hey tree lovers, here’s a great opportunity for continuing your tree education with a TreePhilly partner group (we’ll be at the trainings to talk about how you can get free yard trees too!):

Start 2013 off right by attending one or all of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Tree Tenders trainings in January and February.  PHS’s Tree Tenders® program offers hands-on tree care training for residents of the five-county Philadelphia region. The training covers tree biology, identification, planting, proper care and working within your community.

Mindy Maslin, Tree Tenders Project Manager, shows new tree owners how to find the root flare at the Fall 2012 TreePhilly Yard Tree giveaway at the Pennypack Environmental Center

2013 Trainings

Location for all classes:
100 N. 20th Street, 5th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103

2013 Weekend Series
January 19 & January 26, 8:30 am – 1 pm
Fee: $25 for the two-part series. Note: you must attend both classes to receive Tree Tenders certification.

2013 Lunch-Time Series
Thursday afternoons from January 10 through February 28, 12 – 1pm
Fee: $25 for eight-part series or $5 per class at the door. Note: you must attend all eight classes to receive Tree Tenders certification.

Dates and Topics:
Jan. 10 Overview, Benefits of Trees, Tree Biology
Jan. 17 Urban Stresses on Trees
Jan. 24 Tree Planting
Jan. 31 Tree ID
Feb. 7 Tree Care
Feb. 14 Trees and Watersheds, and the Emerald Ash Borer
Feb. 21 Organizing a Community Tree Planting
Feb. 28 Presentation by Tree Tender Partners: TreePhilly, Philly Tree Map, Plant One Million, US Forest Service, PHS McLean Library

For more information contact Mindy Maslin, Tree Tenders Project Manager, at mmaslin@pennhort.org or (215) 988-8844.

Be the first to learn about TreePhilly news by signing up for our online newsletter, Treemail!  We’ll be sending out a quarterly update with info about upcoming giveaways, volunteer opportunities, and more.  Contact Erica at erica.smith@phila.gov to be added to the list.

AND, if you participated in any of the 2012 Yard Tree Giveaways, fill out a survey and be entered to win a free watering bag ($25 value!).  

Click here to participate in the survey.

Staff from Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Morris Arboretum help prospective tree owners choose which tree would work best for their yard.

Click here to check out our Flickr page and see photos of the recent Fall 2012 Yard Tree Giveaways!

Students from the Women in Natural Science program at the Academy of Natural Sciences demonstrate how to plant a tree at the Haddington Yard Tree Giveaway in October.

TreePhilly will be giving away the remaining free yard trees at two events this month:

• Sat. November 10th, 1-2pm 
• The Woodlands Cemetery, 4000 Woodland Ave. 19104
• After you enter the cemetery, take a right and follow the driveway around until you see us!

• Sat. November 17th, 1-2pm 
• Mifflin Square, 500 Wolf St. 19148
• We will be near the basketball court on the South 5th St. side of the park

You can get two free trees per address (in addition to ones you’ve already picked up).  These trees are for private yards only, and must be planted in the ground, not in a container or in the sidewalk area in front of the house.

We will have a limited selection of species to choose from, please click here to see which species we will have available.

We will not be doing tree planting and care demonstrations at these events, so please check out these great videos from PHS on how to plant and care for your new trees!

Mindy Maslin (right) and Nina Safavi (left) from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society explain how to plant and care for trees at the TreePhilly Yard Tree Giveaway at the Pennypack Environmental Center on Sunday, Nov. 4th.