LOCAL PROGRAM MAKES PHILADELPHIA
A GREENER CITY
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s urban greening program, Philadelphia Green, is the largest and most comprehensive urban greening program in the nation. Started in 1974, Philadelphia Green works with community groups and residents in neighborhoods throughout the City to plan and implement greening projects. The program also partners with private and public organizations to landscape and maintain public spaces in the City’s downtown area at its gateways. Proceeds from the Society’s Philadelphia Flower Show, along with funding from foundations, corporations, and government agencies, help to support its projects.
A YEAR OF GREENING:
- 4,000 parcels of land covering more than six million square feet, benefited from a major cleanup and restoration by Philadelphia Green as part of its Vacant Land Stabilization effort.
- 500 trees were planted on commercial corridors as part of TreeVitalize, a public private partnership spearheaded by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
- The City’s first blueprint for sustainable open space “GreenPlan Philadelphia” is nearing completion. Philadelphia Green led the effort to engage citizens across the city in a series of meetings over the past two years. Those citizens who expressed their own concerns and dreams for everything from bike trails and dog parks to public toilets and the protection of wildlife. Their input forms an integral part of the recommendations that will prevail in the final document.
- 150 inmates in the Philadelphia Prison System attended trainings on horticulture as part of Philadelphia Green’s City Harvest program. Inmates grew seedlings, which were then grown to maturity in Philadelphia community gardens. The resulting produce was then donated to more than 70 local food cupboards. The program included 25 community gardens, 22,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, feeding an estimated 380 families per week throughout the season. The program has entered its second year and hopes to have a greater impact by providing fresh produce for the 121,000 families in Philadelphia that rely solely on food pantries for their food.
- Philadelphia Green landscapes and maintains some of the City’s most popular and important public gardens. Its recent $1.4 million renovation to Logan Circle, the crown jewel of the Paris-influenced Benjamin Franklin Parkway, included twelve 800-pound Empress trees, new benches, garden beds and pathways. The project is made possible with a partnership with the Fairmount Park Commission.
- Philadelphia Green bestowed its Community Greening Award on 37 greening champions from across the state. The award recognized those who made a difference in their communities by planting and maintaining quality public spaces.
- More than 300 residents received awards this past year at The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s 33rd annual City Gardens Contest. Individual homeowners, schools and communities with gardens and street plantings entered the competition which utilizes teams of judges who visit each site in mid-summer.
- Philadelphia Green led more than 400 volunteers in planting 60 trees and three gardens during its annual Fall for Your Park clean-up event. The volunteers painted a recreation center and skate house, removed litter and graffiti and performed woodland restoration work.
- More than 300 KPMG LLP employees volunteered at PHS’s annual City Hall in Bloom event to plant 6600 flowers, plants and trees around City Hall, JFK Plaza, and Logan Square. During the event, sponsored by KPMG, 30 students of the Bache Martin Elementary School planted beds in and around City Hall.
- Philadelphia Green trained dozens of teachers as part of its Green City Teachers program, which provides educators the skills to incorporate horticulture and environmental education into their curriculums. The program encourages students to appreciate the role of nature in their lives. Funding was made available by The Burpee Foundation.
For more about The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Green Program, please visit www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org.
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FOR PRESS INFORMATION, CONTACT:
ALAN JAFFE, email or call 215-988-8833
LAURA BEITMAN, email or
call 215-988-8836 |
