Green Streets Program Plants 472 Trees!

Our Green Streets Tree Planting Crew was busy this fall! James, Jamario, Shawn and Michael planted 472 street trees and created four rain gardens with Rutgers Water Resources Program staff. They also helped plant 70,000 dune grasses in Lavallette and constructed 2 Firewise gardens!

See our tree plantings in pictures: Neptune, Asbury Park, Jersey CityRed Bank, Parkside Garden, Lavallette, Highland Park, Glen Ridge, Rain Gardens, Metuchen, Firewise Gardens, Asbury Park Tree Giveaway,  HoHoKus, Haworth, Springfield, Liberty State Park.

Did you know you can hire our Green Streets Crew to plant trees, create rain gardens, remove stakes and guys from trees, water your street trees? Go here to find out more.

Metuchen 008

Trees for Trails: The Circuit, Camden

Have you heard of The Circuit, an extraordinary trail network connecting Pennsylvania and New Jersey? When complete, it will provide pedestrian and bicycle access from the Appalachian Trail to the Atlantic Ocean! If you live in Camden, chances are that parts of The Circuit touch your community. From North Camden’s Erie Street to Cramer Hill’s Harrison Avenue to the soon-to-be-opened Gateway Park along Admiral Wilson Boulevard, there are pieces of The Circuit throughout Camden, and this network of trails is known locally as the Camden Greenway.

The NJ Tree Foundation is proud to kick off our Trees for Trails project with the support of the William Penn Foundation! This exciting project will plant 75 trees and 300 perennials in Camden along the on-street interim trail network connecting green spaces and existing trails. We’ll also host two exciting trail awareness events (more info coming soon!) and release an Opportunity Analysis of Gateway Park, exploring ways to best manage and enhance the park’s forest.

Want to experience The Circuit yourself?
Visit Connect the Circuit‘s website and plan a trip today!

10698405_10152899154718273_7299928232786181941_n

TD Tree Days Take Root

10.14_Camden trees stockton parkIn October 2014, TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, the Alliance for Community Trees (ACTrees), and the NJ Tree Foundation partnered to plant 238 trees throughout three New Jersey communities, made possible by ACTrees TD Tree Days grants.

As a component of TD Forests, the bank’s environmental initiative to expand urban forestry throughout the footprint and enhance community and economic development, TD Bank and ACTrees partnered with various community organizations to host TD TreeDays in communities from Maine to Florida throughout October. The trees planted will provide health, environmental, and recreational benefits, including improved air quality, shade for buildings and can help mitigate the effects of climate change.

The NJ Tree Foundation was fortunate to work with TD Bank and ACTrees to provide new trees in Camden, Neptune, and Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Planted in public locations at parks, playgrounds, and schools, the new trees will be enjoyed by many individuals. The trees were planted by 200 TD Bank employees who volunteered their time to beautify their local communities. Since 2010, TD Tree Day events have planted over 135,000 trees. This year’s plantings were part of ACTrees’ National NeighborWoods® Month – an annual campaign to plant and care for trees during October.

10.14_td camden demo

10.14_td volunteers camden

 

 

 

 

 

Visit the NJ Tree Foundation Facebook Page to view more photos of the October 2014 TD Tree Day events in Neptune’s West Lake Avenue Neighborhood, Camden’s Stockton Park, Jersey City’s Liberty State Park, and Camden’s Reverend Evers Park.

Asbury Park Free Tree Giveaway – A Tree For Every Yard!

The NJ Tree Foundation, in partnership with American Forests, is giving away 200 trees to residents of Asbury Park. A Tree For Every Yard will help increase the City’s tree canopy, beautify homes, and help create cool, shady yards. If you would like a free tree for your yard, please fill out this survey.

This giveaway is being held in partnership with the Asbury Park Environment & Shade Tree Commission. Trees must be picked up on Saturday November 8, 2014, between 9:00am – 12:00pm at Sunset Lake Park on Bond Street (Park is located at Sunset Ave. & Bond St.). All trees are 3 feet tall in a pot and will easily fit into any sized vehicle! There are 100 White fringe trees and 100 Black gum trees available through this giveaway. We will do our best to fill your first request, but please be prepared to accept either tree. Thank you for your participation in our effort to reforest Asbury Park!

Available trees are:

White Fringetree

 

 

 

White Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) – Easily grown in average, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade.  Creamy white flowers in late May to early Jue. Tolerant of air pollution and adapts well to urban settings. Height 20′. Width 20′. 

 

 

 

blackgum

 

 

Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) – One of the most attractive native trees around. Summer leaves are a dark green and fall foliage has many shades of yellow, orange, bright red, purple or scarlet. Grows 30′-50′ high, with a 20′-30′ spread. Prefers well-drained, acid soils, and full sun to partial shade.

 

 

 

 

NJ American Water Supports Camden Trees

On July 9th, New Jersey American Water presented the New Jersey Tree Foundation with a $10,000 check to remove concrete and plant trees in East Camden. The new trees are expected to absorb 15,000 gallons of stormwater annually which will help to reduce flooding and improve the condition of the Delaware watershed. The funding will also support tree care workshops free to residents of Camden City.

“We are so grateful to have this support from NJ American Water. The grant will allow us to work with East Camden residents and partners, such as St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society, to improve stormwater management while beautifying streets with large trees,” explains Program Director Jessica Franzini. “The TreeKeepers workshops we provide increase the sustainability of our tree plantings as residents learn proper tree care techniques and receive free tree tools for attending.”

The NJ Tree Foundation’s Camden TreeKeepers workshops are held on Wednesday evenings throughout July. The first session had 22 attendees including 10 children. The East Camden tree planting project will be scheduled for the fall.

Beth Kwart and Jessica Franzini of the NJ Tree Foundation accept the check from Katie Kulenich and Carmen Tierno of NJ American Water.
 

For more photos of the first TreeKeepers workshop please visit our Facebook Page.

 

Pucks for Parks

On Thursday May 29th, the NJ Tree Foundation had its first planting through an exciting partnership with the New Jersey Devils and PwC US. This new initiative, Pucks for Parks, will plant two mature trees in a New Jersey park or green space for every Devils win! Representatives from the New Jersey Devils, PwC, Essex County, Presby Iris Memorial Gardens and the NJ Tree Foundation planted 30 trees at the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens in Upper Montclair, NJ to kick off the multi-year program.

Here are a couple photos from this great event. Check out more on our Facebook Page!

pucks for parks 1 pucks for parks 2 pucks for parks 3

April Brings Trees to NJ Communities

This April, the NJ Tree Foundation (NJTF) worked with dozens of amazing partners across NJ to reforest cities and towns in need of trees! At these exciting community planting events, hundreds of volunteers joined the NJTF to dig holes and plant “the right tree for the right place in the right way.” Check out our list of awesome April tree planting events!

10152406_10152493355493273_1486028197348935566_nCamden, NJ:
Acelero Learning Center
Harry C. Sharp School
Joseph’s House for the Homeless
Ferry Avenue and Webster Streets
Read more about our Camden program.

Newark, NJ:
Pedal Farm and SAS
Fruit Tree Planting
Forest Hill Community Association
Read more about our Newark Program.

10325366_10152488848273273_4809332432604534827_nVineland, NJ:
Landis Park Earth Day Event

Bloomfield, NJ:
NY/NJ SuperBowl Host Committee
Passing of the Shovel to AZ
at Brookdale Park

In addition, our Green Streets Crew was hired to plant trees in Glen Rock, Bergenfield, Liberty State Park, and Red Bank this month. Read more about hiring Green Streets to perform landscape services in your town.

Please consider supporting NJTF’s tree planting efforts across NJ as a volunteer or donor.

Volunteers Needed for Earth Day Tree Planting!

The NJ Tree Foundation, in partnership with the Vineland Environmental Commission and Calpine, will plant 50 shade trees in Landis Park on Earth Day, 4/22/2014. This tree planting will help replace the many trees lost from storms over the past few years.

Here’s the Scoop:

Date: 4/22/2014
Time: 9AM until about Noon
Place: Landis Park, NE Blvd and North 6th Street, Vineland, NJ
Event: Earth Day Tree Planting
RSVP to Lisa at  njtf1@juno.com

IMG_2178-001

National NeighborWoods Month Photo Contest

The New Jersey Tree Foundation has received an honorable mention in the Alliance For Community Tree’s 2013 National NeighborWoods® Month photo contest. This contest places a spotlight on some of the 250 nonprofits and 26,000 volunteers who planted 50,000 trees during National NeighborWoods® Month. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to our volunteers, our perfect photo models!

Here are some of the photos we submitted to the contest – all happy trees and tree lovers enjoying National NeighborWoods® Month!

NJTF_Newark_High Park garden group

NJTF_Camden_Liney Ditch plantersNJTF_Newark_Pruning

NJTF_Camden_Liney Ditch Demo

Congratulations, Newark Certified TreeKeepers

This winter, the NJ Tree Foundation conducted a special winter TreeKeepers workshop series in Newark thanks to a partnership with Newark’s Office of Sustainability. In this series of workshops, residents learned the proper tree-care and maintenance techniques needed to become effective tree stewards in their communities. 106 Newark residents participated at these workshops where we provided educational materials and tools to all who attended. The Tree Foundation would like to extend our thanks to the Greater Newark Conservancy for hosting this winter series.

Congratulations to our 18 new certified TreeKeepers! These dedicated individuals attended all four workshops, and are excited to share their knowledge with neighbors and friends:

IMG_2784-001Justin Allen
Robert Bell
Cameron Black
Mary Bradley
Sandra Crawley
Betty Crockett
Tara Daniel
Jon Dugan
Maria Goetschalckx
Ricardo Grant
Alterick Hardy
Wynnie-Fred Hinds
Kenneth Louis
Christian Oliveira
Thalya Reyes
Michael Sheehan
DeAnna Joy Whitley
Keith Williams

For more pictures from our Newark TreeKeepers workshops, visit our Facebook Albums. Thank you to all who attended .

NJTF logo_good
Newark Sustainability Office LogoGNC logocircle