Volunteers Plant Dozens Of Trees In West Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - About 100 volunteers have teamed up to add some green to the urban landscape in West Philadelphia.
Elms, maples, and sugar gums were part of a wide variety of trees that have gone into the ground around Mastery Charter School (photo below) and an adjacent recreation center.
Sue Pringle, of University City Green, says it's a project that's been in the works for some time.
"I've been wanting to do this since 2008, and we've been looking for funding all that time," she tells KYW Newsradio, "and then TD Bank said that they were able to help us."
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Pringle believes the 53 trees she and her cohorts have planted will have a transformative effect.
"It really softens the neighborhood. We have a lot of concrete here and we want to see less of that and more greenery, and a better canopy," she said.
There is a strategy behind the creation of that canopy, says Diana Gih of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
"We are big advocates of the right tree in the right place," she said, "so we won't plant a tree that will conflict with the wires above it, for instance."
Reported by Paul Kurtz, KYW Newsradio 1060
