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An Amazing Year Of Greening
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s urban revitalization program, Philadelphia Green, is one of the largest and most comprehensive urban greening programs in the nation. Started in 1974, Philadelphia Green works with community groups and residents in neighborhoods throughout the city to plan and implement greening projects. The program also partners with private and public organizations to landscape and maintain public spaces in the city’s downtown area and its gateways. Proceeds from the Society’s Philadelphia Flower Show, along with funding from foundations, corporations, and government agencies, help to support its projects.
A YEAR OF GREENING:
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More than 5,000 parcels of land, covering over seven million square feet, benefited from a major cleanup and restoration by Philadelphia Green as part of its Vacant Land Stabilization effort. Studies show housing values can increase by as much as 30 percent when adjacent vacant land is greened.
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More than 1,000 bare root trees were planted by 30 Tree Tender groups across Philadelphia and hundreds more in the surrounding counties, as part of TreeVitalize, a public-private partnership launched by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and led by PHS in Southeast Pennsylvania. Thousands of trees were also planted along streams and other sensitive water protection areas in dozens of TreeVitalize Watersheds restoration projects throughout the region.
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PG announced a pilot project to turn old and new housing in eastern North Philadelphia into environmentally sustainable, affordable communities. The project, made possible by a $1 million donation by The Home Depot Foundation, will be coordinated by PHS, the Philadelphia offices of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, the City of Philadelphia, and the Fairmount Park Commission.
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PG joined with PECO to document the installation of its green roof on the Philadelphia headquarters and develop an educational program about the project. At 45,000 square feet, it is the largest green roof constructed on an existing urban building in Pennsylvania.
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The Parks Revitalization Team helped lead more than 2,000 volunteers in planting trees and cleaning up more than 68 city parks as part of its 9th annual Spring Into Your Park event and led another 300 volunteers in bringing fresh paint, plantings and spirit to the Olney Recreation Center and the neighboring Tacony Creek Park during its 9th annual Fall for Your Park event..
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PG broke ground on the city’s first new park in decades. Julian Abele Park, a pocket park located at 22nd and Montrose streets, is named for the first African-American graduate of the architecture program of the University of Pennsylvania. The former derelict lot now includes trees, grass and benches, with a gravel path and other improvements to come.
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PG announced a partnership with Keep America Beautiful, the national organization founded in 1953 to promote litter prevention, waste reduction and beautification. The partnership will provide new greening resources and information to KAB’s 1,000 affiliates and participating organizations.
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Downtown Norristown got a little greener as more than 30 volunteers planted more than 60 trees, shrubs and perennials around Norristown Municipal Hall in an effort to revitalize the historic area through greening and support commercial investment. The project set the stage for a comprehensive downtown greening program in the future.
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270 inmates in the Philadelphia Prison System attended training on horticulture as part of Philadelphia Green’s City Harvest program. Inmates grew seedlings, which were then grown to maturity in Philadelphia community gardens. The resulting produce was then donated to more than 30 local food cupboards. The program included 35 community gardens, 39,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, feeding an estimated 640 families per week throughout the season. The program has entered its second year and hopes to have a greater impact by providing fresh produce for the 121,000 families in Philadelphia that rely solely on food pantries for their food.
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PG bestowed its Community Greening Award to 77 greening champions from across the state. Drawing 101 entries from as far west as Sharon, Pa., and with entries also coming from New Jersey and Delaware, the award recognized those who made a difference in their communities by planting and maintaining quality public spaces.
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More than 150 city gardens received awards this past year at The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s 34th annual City Gardens Contest. Individual homeowners, schools and communities with gardens and street plantings entered the competition, which utilizes teams of judges who visit each site in mid-summer.
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More than 300 KPMG LLP employees volunteered at PHS’ annual City Hall in Bloom event to plant 6,600 flowers, plants and trees around City Hall, JFK Plaza, and Logan Square. During the event, sponsored by KPMG, 30 students of the Bache Martin Elementary School planted beds in and around City Hall.
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Philadelphia Green trained dozens of teachers as part of its Green City Teachers program, which provides educators the skills to incorporate horticulture and environmental education into their curriculums. The program encourages students to appreciate the role of nature in their lives. Funding was made available by The Burpee Foundation.
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Philadelphia Green partnered with the Philadelphia Water Department’s Office of Watersheds to improve stormwater management at sites in Philadelphia, including enhancing a rain garden at Cliveden Park in East Mount Airy. Street inlets were installed to divert runoff into the park where terraced infiltration basins slow stormwater and allow it to soak into the soil. A graceful, stone-faced pedestrian bridge was added over an improved vegetated swale leading to the rain garden. Also, in partnership with PWD, PG’s landscape design team invited more than two dozen ecologists, horticulturists and landscape architects to submit plant recommendations for future demonstration stormwater planters—sidewalk trenches and curb extensions—to capture and filter street runoff.
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PHS worked with Pennsylvania Downtown Center and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to offer summer internships for college students. In June, PHS provided more than 30 fledgling landscape architects, urban planners and greening advocates with a week of training. The students then applied their experiences to beautification projects in 11 communities across the state.
For more about The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Green program, please visit www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org.
FOR PRESS INFORMATION, CONTACT:
ALAN JAFFE, email or call 215-988-8833
LAURA BEITMAN, email or
call 215-988-8836
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