Arbor Day brought a big tree-tending turnout for Pastorius Park

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About two dozen volunteers showed up in force on Arbor Day, April 29 to tend to some of Chestnut Hill’s most beloved trees, including the stand of legacy trees in the park’s central meadow: Tulips, Sweetgums and Silver Maple. 

“A lot of these trees are ancient, and really needed the work,” said Tracy Gardner, president of the Friends of Pastorius Park. 

Included among the volunteers were four different professional arborists who donated their time and their equipment to the cause: Erik Werner of  The Hedgerows Arborist Services; Ken LeRoy of John B. Ward Tree Experts; Pete McFarland of McFarland Tree, Landscape & Hardscape Services and Zach Shechtman of Shechtman Tree Care, LLC.

“They worked from early morning all the way through to early afternoon, pro-bono, said Gardner. 

In addition to the arborists, The Wissahickon Garden Club and the Garden Club of Philadelphia, also came to planted17 new native shrubs in the little stand of woods off Millman Street.

The following day, another round of volunteers rolled up their sleeves for a long day of clearing out brush, cutting down invasive plants, and cleaning up Sweetgum balls.

“It was a big show of civic spirit, everyone really did so much work,” said Gardner. “And it shows!”