Seedlings propagated from local trees and raised at Tree Pittsburgh’s Heritage Nursery in Lawrenceville will be distributed to the first 1,000 people at a special Arbor Day event Friday in Market Square.
The giveaway starts at 11.30 a.m. and will run until all 1,000 seedlings — tulip poplar, white oak, yellow buckeye, umbrella magnolia and pawpaw — are gone, but not beyond 2 p.m. Each seedling will be handed off with information about planting and care.
“In the past, we have given away one species,” said Joe Stavish, Tree Pittsburgh’s community education coordinator. “Last year it was sugar maple and the year before it was dogwood.”
Tree Pittsburgh is celebrating its 10th anniversary with expanded space to provide more diversity of trees to people in the region. It has a goal this year to have 10,000 new trees planted, including these seedlings.
The seeds were chosen from genetically superior specimens so that they stand a better chance of surviving, Mr. Stavish said.
Tree Pittsburgh and the city’s Shade Tree Commission, as co-sponsors, will be in Market Square at 10 a.m. to talk to people about trees, the Heritage Nursery and Arbor Day. Mayor Bill Peduto is expected to read a proclamation at 11:15 a.m.
Arbor Day is recognized worldwide, with varying dates for optimal tree-planting in different regional climates. It is the last Friday of April in this country.
“It loses its place a little because of Earth Day [April 22], but it is an important day, devoted to planting trees,” Mr. Stavish said.
Tree Pittsburgh is a partner in a public-private collaboration, TreeVitalize, that began in 2008 with the goal of planting 20,000 trees in the county by 2014. It has exceeded that goal by more than 5,000 trees.
People can apply to TreeVitalize for a tree, either a sidewalk tree or for restoration projects.
Tree Pittsburgh has devoted much of its efforts to restoring native tree stock on hillsides, in parks and along rivers.
It established its nursery in 2011 at a location in Point Breeze and moved last year to a larger space along the Allegheny River.
Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.
First Published: April 27, 2016, 4:16 a.m.
