Chestnut Hill’s Greenspace Initiatives Committee brings together representatives from the Chestnut Hill Community Association, Business Association, Conservancy, Morris Arboretum, Tree Tenders and area landscape, arborists and conservation experts who share a passion for greenspace collaboration. We are not alone in our love of greenspaces. Our community’s appreciation for the great outdoors has only deepened with the pandemic restrictions. This year’s Earth Month has something for everyone from new beautification projects in our area to activities for you and your family.

In celebration of Earth Month, our group approved funding in excess of $15,000 for three new beautification projects that will start this Spring. These include a matching request to the Friends of Pastorius Park for removing invasives in Pastorius Park at the corner of West Abington and Roanoke and a matching request with the Business Improvement District and GRINCH to remove invasives and to add new diverse plantings of canopy trees and understory flowering trees and shrubs. This will enhance the prominent greenspace at the southern gateway to Chestnut Hill near Mermaid Inn, to be called Mermaid Park. Neighbors also received support to continue their beautification efforts near the West Highland train station with funding for several large trees and shrubs. The CHCA Tree Fund, which is the funding source managed by our committee, was established and endowed by the estate of James R. Black, who was passionate about cleaning greenspaces and tree-planting efforts.

While Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, our Greenspace Initiatives Committee is joining the chorus of those asking for an entire month of actions devoted to expanding and appreciating our greenspaces. Here are some of the great Earth Month activities planned in our area:

Chestnut Hill Conservancy & Chestnut Hill Community Association will host Earth Day Every Day: How to bring Nature back to the Neighborhood, a virtual presentation by Rob Fleming and Christopher Sohnly, co-founder of local landscape firm Spruce Hollow Designs LLC on April 22 at 7 p.m. See either group’s website for information.

Earth Day Celebration Cleanup Day at the Water Tower on April 24 from 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Please wear a mask and bring your own gloves, rakes and brooms. No signup required.

Chestnut Hill Community Association Virtual Garden Tour hosted by Paul Meyer showcases the area’s finest gardeners and a look at Woodmere’s sculpture garden. To access the tour, visit the CHCA website.

Friends of Chestnut Hill Library invites you to visit the Library’s garden at your leisure and on April 24 from 2 to 4 p.m. With 80 varieties of plants including natives and pollinators, see what’s popping up in the garden this spring. During the April 24 event, come preview the Horticulture room at the Library and see the plant swap wall. Thanks for a grant to the Friends from Weavers Way, there will also be a book giveaway for children. For more information visit the Friends or Free Library’s websites.

Hilltop Books, launched by the Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library to expand the Library’s engagement, is celebrating Earth Month with a health-and-wellness check in. Count your steps between the bookstore at 84 Bethlehem Pike and the Chestnut Hill Library’s front door and receive a free Health & Wellness book when you buy any book during the month of April.

Friends of the Wissahickon has four events planned. FOW Spring Cleanup Service Day is April 1 from 9 a.m. to Noon. FOW will host a virtual presentation about Philadelphia's Urban Forestry Plan on April 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Community Forestry Manager Erica Smith Fichman will be discussing the city’s new 10-year Philly Tree Plan to increase tree cover. FOW Spring Planting Service Day is April 17 from 9 a.m. to Noon. The group will be removing invasive plant species and planting native trees and shrubs in a popular area of the park. FOW Wissahickon Earth Day Creek Clean-up and Planting Day is April 24 from 9 a.m. to Noon. For one project, FOW is partnering with their upstream partners Wissahickon Trails (formerly Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association) for their Annual Creek Clean-up. For another project, FOW will be planting native shrubs to fill in a much-needed understory to help a beautiful section of forest. Tools and instruction will be provided at both locations. Visit the FOW website to sign up.

Morris Arboretum encourages you to reserve tickets to see the garden during regular admission or attend one of their 6 online classes in April including: Propagating Carnivorous Houseplants Virtual Class with Emily Conn, Horticulturist and Plant Care Specialist, Grow, Sip, Repeat Houseplant Boutique, April 2 | 1 – 2 p.m. Exploring Historic Irish Gardens from Your Own Home! Virtual Class with Julia Callahan, Horticulture Intern, Morris Arboretum, April 7- 1 - 2 p.m. Bouquet Bonanza: Floral Arranging from Home Virtual Class with Delainey Williams, Natural Lands Intern, Morris Arboretum, April 9 | 1 - 2 p.m. Japanese Flowering Cherries: “The Loveliest Trees” Virtual Class with Anthony Aiello, The Gayle E. Maloney Curator, Morris Arboretum, April 9 | 1 - 2 p.m. Native Pollinators of Pennsylvania Virtual Class with Samantha Nestory, Horticulturist, Stoneleigh: a natural garden, April 16 | 1 - 2 p.m. A - Z of Spring Bulbs and More Virtual Class with Jenny Rose Carey, Author and Renowned Gardener, April 21 | 10 – 11 a.m.

If you’d like to make a donation to the CHCA Tree Fund to support our greening work in Chestnut Hill, you can do so through the CHCA website at chestnuthill.org