Green Streets poised for its busiest season yet!

This coming spring will be the busiest planting season yet for The Green Streets tree planting program. With funding from the Greening The Gateway Cities program, Green Streets is working to plant over 2,000 trees between two planting zones in Lawrence. The goal is to increase the Urban Tree Canopy and reduce the urban heat island effect in the city. By cooling our community, Lawrence’s urban forests can significantly reduce energy consumption and improve air quality. This spring we have over 250 trees to plant with more being added each week. We hope to start planting in mid-April and will work to the end of June. Green Streets will be adding a second full-time seasonal tree planting crew to meet the demand. In addition to the record setting Spring, our Fall planting list is already filling up with over 90 trees planned for the September to November planting season.

The record numbers of trees aren’t the only thing to get excited about for Green Streets this year. We will be piloting our own tree nursery this spring as well, planting two dozen seedlings at the Myrtle Street community garden. Our hope if to have a steady supply of locally grown trees ready in two to three years. Growing our own trees ensures an affordable supply of replacement trees already acclimated to the tough urban environment. Green Streets will also be planting trees at the Arlington, Tarbox and South Lawrence East schools to celebrate Arbor Day on Aprils 27^th. Finally, this season we’re relaunching Adopt-A-Tree with the hope of recruiting 15 to 20 volunteer tree stewards to help water and care for newly planted public trees.

We have an ambitious agenda this season and Green Streets is always looking for volunteer support. Anyone interested in getting a free tree for their home, becoming a tree steward or volunteering to help out should contact Green Streets by email, or call (978) 974-0770 Ext. 7016.