Trees

Southie Trees was founded by Susan Labandibar, CEO of Tech Networks of Boston and TNB continues to support the program. Southie Trees began as a Planet Southie Action Team and branched out on their own because they decided to apply for grants and hire staff (Planet Southie is intentionally unfunded and entirely volunteer-led). We work closely with Southie Trees and promote their amazing work.

New Southie Trees blog here!

Follow Southie Trees on Facebook here.

Trees in the city:
Trees aren’t just nice to look at. More trees mean:
  • Lower asthma and immune disease rates because of pollution filtering.
  • Quieter streets due to leaves and branches muffling sound.
  • Cooler summers from shade and transpiration (water given off by the leaves).
  • Higher property values - on average 10% higher for mature, healthy trees.
The challenge:
  • South Boston has only 9% tree cover, and we are losing mature trees all the time.  Other than East Boston and Downtown, we have the least trees of any neighborhood in the city.
  • Newly planted street trees have an average life of 7 - 10 years.
    • This means mature “heritage trees” that die are gone for good.
  • Often projects budget for planting trees but not for maintaining them.
  • It takes 18 months for an empty tree pit to be filled by the city.
What to do about it: Southie Trees is reaching out to South Boston residents, neighborhood groups, local businesses, officials and developers to:
  • Protect existing mature trees from being cut down
  • Care for trees throughout the city
  • Plant new trees wherever we can
How we you make a difference:
  • Anyone can become an advocate!  Email southietrees@techboston.com - Southie Trees will provide materials and keep you updated on the campaign.
  • Any time development is happening, we can contact the developers to request they plant the maximum amount of trees at the site.
  • Businesses and residents can maintain nearby tree pits by removing weeds, watering during the summer months and even planting flowers around the tree.
  • Homeowners and landlords can plant trees on their property.
  • Young people can start their own projects and get their friends involved.
Get involved!
If you or someone you know would like to help, drop Southie Trees a line at southietrees@techboston.com.

Southie Trees: The Movie!
Watch "Uprooted": A movie about Southie Trees! South Boston residents and advocates struggle to preserve environmental harmony in the midst of urban renewal. Screened at the Boston Museum of Science on Dec. 9, 2011. Watch it here!

Requesting a tree:
Many people write to us see if they can get the City to plant trees on a faster schedule.  Unfortunately, we don’t have a way of getting anything accelerated right now. To request a tree for a tree pit, please follow the instructions on the City of Boston website:

Any resident of Boston can request to have a street tree planted in front of their home or business. Please call the Park Line at 617-635-PARK (7275) to request a planting. An arborist will come out and inspect the site to determine if it can be planted. The site will be inspected to see if it meets the proper requirements.

We’ve heard that this process can take at least 18 months and will require several phone calls.
More information from Southie Trees about How to Get a Tree Planted is here!


1 comment:

  1. An area filled with trees is not prone to flash floods. Illegal logging is getting more prominent as years go by, and evidence points directly to the lack of trees as a cause for this. A single tree that's gone can lead to devastating results, and we can see the truth in that these days. That's one reason why we should preserve trees.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting! Please be polite. Comments are moderated. Please don't worry if your comment does not appear immediately.