12 New Trees Grow in Swarthmore
Community members join the Swarthmore Tree Committee to plant a new tree on Bowdoin Avenue. Photo: Inés Rodriguez
On a recent sunny Saturday morning, crabapple, Sargent cherry, and Kentucky coffee trees found new homes as street trees in Swarthmore. Members of the borough’s tree committee and community volunteers planted 12 new bare-root trees on Yale Avenue, Haverford Place, Union Avenue, Bowdoin Avenue, and Brighton Avenue. The November 21 planting was the culmination of months of advocacy and logistical maneuvering by committee members. Swarthmore Borough Council funded the project.
The committee obtained the trees through a joint program of TreeVitalize, a public-private partnership sponsored by Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Philadelphia Horticultural Society. Using the recently completed Swarthmore Tree Survey as a guide, committee members identified vacant planting sites and approached homeowners to see if they wanted trees. Tree committee members Catherine King, Charles Cresson, and David Page led volunteer planting crews of the homeowners, friends, and neighbors. Fellow committee members especially credit Michael Matotek for his work on the project. “Since joining the Tree Committee just a few years ago, Michael has had a major impact on Swarthmore’s trees,” says Cresson.
Bare-root — as opposed to ball-and-burlap — trees have no soil around the roots, making them much lighter and easier to transport. The exposed root system is dipped in a gel to protect the root fibers, but the trees still have to be planted quickly. Planting holes are usually much shallower for bare root trees, and the trees are less stable once planted. Stakes and ties, also supplied by the horticultural society, will support the saplings for a year. Once the trees are established, the stakes can be removed.
The new trees will be added to the tree survey database and revisited in the future to assess tree health and pruning needs.
To learn more about the street trees and planting sites in Swarthmore, see the survey of all borough street trees. Residents can use this information to research existing trees or to plan where to plant new ones.
