Earth Day Tree Planting
It was a pleasant morning on Earth Day, April 22 when five members of our club helped out the West End Alliance, and City of Allentown, in planting 20 trees along Tilghman Street. Volunteers Enos Martin, Deb Lamb, Karen Baker, Terry Kennedy and Tom Harp met at 8:30 AM and were provided with a tree planting demonstration from the city parks department crew and an arborist representing the West End Alliance. Several days before, the city used augers to dig up old soil and replace it with new topsoil. This made the planting locations fairly easy to dig up. The young trees were easy to maneuver into
place, since they were not weighed down by root balls. After digging the holes, trees were put in place and we backfilled and tamped down topsoil. Wires were tied to the young trees and stakes to keep them in place. Finally, mulch was spread and watering skirts installed around the trees. This was a physically demanding but fun and rewarding project. The teamwork between volunteers and city workers was amazing!