I own a house in Philadelphia. How do I get a tree planted in front of my house?

Answer

Thank you for your interest in getting more trees planted in Philadelphia.  There are several options for planting trees in your neighborhood.

Tree Tenders

PHS coordinates tree plantings every season through local Tree Tenders groups. Tree Tenders group leaders are committed to helping property owners submit an application for free street trees and yard trees through the PHS TreeVitalize program. To find a Tree Tenders group near you, consult the map on this page of our web site.

We plant trees each Fall and Spring. Our application request period for trees for the Fall closes the previous May and for the Spring closes the previous November. To learn how to care for your tree, consider attending Tree Tenders training.

Below are listed some other avenues for getting a tree:

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation

Request a street tree through Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation accepts requests from individual property owners.

Call them:  215-685-4360

Or fill out this online form

To request a yard tree from Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, go to treephilly.org

Civic Associations

Contact your local civic association to see if they are coordinating any street tree planting projects. Many get funds from Councilperson or State representatives to support their work. (Examples of local civic associations include Center City Residents, Queen Village Neighbors, SOSNA, Fairmount Civic Assoc., Passyunk Square Civic Assoc., East Falls CDC, New Kensington CDC, Fishtown Neighbors, etc.)

Private Contractors

Hire a private contractor to plant a tree  for you. This generally runs about $300 to $500 depending on how much concrete needs to be removed. Go to the UC Green website for a list of local contractors. If you go this route you should try to make your soil tree pit as large as possible. A 3'x3' tree pit is really inadequate. If your sidewalk area is narrow, make the tree pit rectangular - 3'x4', 3'x5' etc. If your sidewalk area is wider, make the tree pit both wider and longer - 4'x4', 5'x5' etc. The larger the tree pit size, the better the tree will do and the less likely you are to experience sidewalk damage in future years. Please note that when hiring a private contractor, you will still need a permit from Philadelphia Parks and Recreation before planting any trees on the street.

If you have any other questions, please contact the PHS Trees Team at PHS-info@pennhort.org

 

  • Last Updated Feb 03, 2021
  • Views 775
  • Answered By Janet Evans

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