TreePhilly gives free trees to Whitman neighbors this Fall

Whitman neighbors can get up to 2 free trees to plant in their yard this Fall. TreePhilly is giving out trees this coming Saturday, October 29th at Whitman TD Bank located at 2653 S 5th St from 10am-12pm. Register for your trees ahead of time or come by after 12pm to pick up any remaining trees that have not been picked up. Visit treephilly.com to learn more about the free tree programs available for Philadelphia residents.

More about TreePhilly and the local free street tree program per Philly.com:

TreePhilly, a joint Parks and Recreation Department and Fairmount Park Conservancy Program, is partnering with other organizations to hold tree giveaways around Philadelphia this fall. Property owners pick up one or two trees each, along with free mulch and planting and care instructions, at designated locations.

Tree giveaway locations this fall are at the Whitman TD Bank (2653 S. 5th St.) on Oct. 29; Roxborough TD Bank (5501 Ridge Ave.) on Oct. 30; and Aramingo TD Bank (2267 E. Butler St.) on Nov. 5.

Yard tree varieties being given away this fall include willow oak, hackberry, bald cypress, yellowwood, pagoda dogwood, American smoketree, red buckeye, sourwood, Asian pear, fig, nectarine and paw paw.

The program says fall is a good time to plant trees because the following months of cool weather give young trees time to spread out and establish roots before  summer's heat.

To date, TreePhilly has provided more than 15,000 free trees, according to the program's website.

The initiative began in 2012. Since then, the program has sought to add greenery to barren neighborhoods, though it has sometimes had a hard time convincing residents to plant trees.

"A lot of people, my family included, are tree skeptics," Kathryn Ott Lovell, Philly's parks and recreation commissioner, said earlier this year. "They think that trees cause more problems than the value they add."

For those concerned about putting a problematic tree in their yard, she said: "We have arborists who identify the right tree to be put in your yard, trees that don't grow too high or too deep."