City Trees with Jacelyn Blank from Philly Tree People
This week on Gritty and Green, Meredith Nutting explores Philadelphia’s urban forests from before settlers landed to its current state. She is joined by Jacelyn Blank of Philly Tree People to discuss the importance of street trees, how to get them and the process of maintaining them.
For more information about the work that Philly Tree People does and how you can support them visit: http://www.phillytreepeople.org/
To find a Tree Tenders Group near you go to the PHS website and to read more about the Philly Tree Plan check out: https://www.phila.gov/documents/urban-forest-strategic-plan/
If you want more information about local sustainability go to https://www.greenphl.org
Episode Transcription
NAT SOUND: looking at baby birds
Meredith: I see the baby bird come here.
Child: Huh Where is it?
Meredith: It’s in the tree.
Child: Huh? He’s trying to fly.
Meredith: Yea he’s not very good at it yet is he?
MEREDITH: FOR A FEW WEEKS, EVERY EVENING, MY DAUGHTER AND I WOULD WALK BY A GROVE OF SMALL TREES ON THE EDGE OF A PUBLIC GARDEN AND WATCH THE YOUNG FLEDGLING BIRDS AS THEY START TO LEAVE THE NEST.
Child: It’s saying mama come feed me some food.
Meredith: Yea it’s saying mama come feed me some food. Where is it? is it in the tree?
Child: I see a bumble bee!
MEREDITH: IT'S AMAZING THAT ALONG THIS BUSY ROAD, JUST A BLOCK FROM THE EL, NATURE IS STILL DOING ITS THING – EGGS ARE LAID, BABY BIRDS HATCH AND YOUNG BIRDS FLEDGE. AND ALL OF THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE OF CITY TREES.
Gritty and Green Theme Music
MEREDITH: HI AND WELCOME TO GRITTY AND GREEN. I’M YOUR HOST, MEREDITH NUTTING. ON THIS EPISODE I’M JOINED BY JACELYN BLANK FROM PHILLY TREE PEOPLE. WE’RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT STREET TREES – WHY WE NEED THEM AND HOW WE CAN CARE FOR THEM. SO, LET’S GET GROWING!
DO YOU EVER LOOK AROUND THE CITY AND WONDER WHAT WAS HERE BEFORE THIS –
Nat Sound: City noise transition into bird song
MEREDITH: BACK BEFORE THE DUTCH AND SWEDES ARRIVED AND STARTED SETTLING IN THE AREA BETWEEN THE DELAWARE AND SCHUYLKILL RIVER, NOW KNOWN AS PHILADELPHIA – IT WAS INHABITED BY THE LENNI LENAPE PEOPLES. THE LAND THEY LIVED ON WAS MADE UP OF MARSHES AND ROLLING HILLS OF MEADOW AND TREES. LOTS OF TREES. LOTS OF OLD TREES.
AND IT WAS UNDER ONE OF THESE OLD TREES THAT WILLIAM PENN AND CHIEF TAMANEND SIGNED THE TREATY OF SHACKAMAXON OF 1682. YOU CAN FIND A DESCENDANT OF THAT TREE IN PENN TREATY PARK THOUGH IT’S ONLY ABOUT 15 YEARS OLD.
WILLIAM PENN ENVISIONED A LUSH CITY FILLED WITH GREENERY IN THE STATE OF PENNSLYVNIA WHICH IS LATIN FOR PENNS WOODS. HE EVEN GAVE PHILADELPHIA A NICKNAME – THE GREEN COUNTRY TOWN.
HE PLANNED THE CITY SO THAT HOMES WOULD BE SURROUNDED BY GARDENS, AND FIVE LUSH GREEN SQUARES WOULD BREAK UP THE GRID OF STREETS WITH NAMES LIKE PINE, SPRUCE, WALNUT, CHESTNUT, CEDAR, MULBERRY AND SASSAFRAS – THOSE LAST THREE ARE NOW SOUTH, ARCH AND RACE STREETS.
BUT LOOKING AT OUR CITY FILLED WITH CONNECTED ROWHOMES AND FEW TREES YOU HAVE TO WONDER – WHAT HAPPENED?
WELL, WILLIAM PENN’S VISION WASN’T AS IDEALISTIC AS IT SEEMS. THAT GREEN SPACE WAS PRACTICAL. SEPARATING HOMES WOULD STOP FIRES AND PLAGUES FROM SPREADING. AND THOSE GREEN PUBLIC SQUARES DROVE UP REALESTATE PRICES. EVEN IF THOSE GREEN SPACES WEREN’T FUNDED OR CARED FOR.
UNDERFUNDED THE FIVE SQUARES EVENTUALLY BECAME DUMPS – LITERALLY. ALONG WITH FILLING THEM WITH TRASH, PEOPLE ALSO UESD THEM A S A CEMETARIES AND SITES FOR PUBLIC HANGING. FINALLY, IN THE 1820S THE CITY DID TAKE THEM OVER, PLANTED SOME NICE TREES, BUT STILL BARELY FUNDED THEM.
PHILADELHPIA ALSO BOUGHT SWATHS OF FORESTED LAND UP THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER, CREATING FAIRMONT PARK – INCLUDING AT THE TIME HE WISSAHICKON -- IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE CITY’S WATER SOURCE FROM ENCROACHING INDUSTRY. BUT STILL DIDN’T FUND IT.
COMPARED TO THE MONEY OTHER CITIES PUT INTO THEIR PARK SYSTEMS, PHILADELPHIA SPENDS WELL BELOW AVERAGE.
AND THAT DOESN’T JUST AFFECT THE TREES IN THE PARKS – IT AFFECTS THE STREET TREES AS WELL.
DESPITE THE PROMOSING START OF A TREE FILLED CITY, MODERN DAY PHILADELPHIA IS ACTUALLY DOING PRETTY ABISMAL WHEN IT COMES TO URBAN TREES. YOU CAN TELL IF YOU LOOK AT A SATELLITE VIEW OF THE CITY FOR THE AMOUNT URBAN TREE CANOPY – THAT’S BASICALLY WHERE TREES SHADE THE GROUND. THE AMOUNT OF TREE CANOPY AFFECTS THE TEMPERATURE, THE AIR QUALITY, THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE, EVEN THE CRIME RATE!
BUT OUT OF THE MAJOR EAST COAST CITIES, PHILADELPHIA RANKS ALMOST LAST IN THE PERCENTAGE OF URBAN TREE CANOPY. WHERE BOSTON HAS ABOUT 29% AND NEW YORK HAS 16%, PHILADELPHIA ONLY HAS ABOUT 13%. EVEN THE HIGHER ESTIMATE OF 20% IS STILL REALLY LOW. BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE WORKING REALLY HARD TO CHANGE THAT.
AND I GOT TO SIT DOWN WITH ONE OF THEM
Jacelyn Blank: My name is Jacelyn Blank. I am co-founder and cooperator of a not for profit Pennsylvania Horticultural Society tree tender group, Philly Tree People. I grew up in Chester county so I was used to being around trees, nature. Our first summer in our place on Tulip Street was a you know, I think we gravitated towards renting that place because the block was full of street trees. It produced so much shade. I walked home from the L one afternoon and just significant temperature drops by ten degrees or more, turning off of a block with no no trees onto my block.
MEREDITH: AFTER LIVING IN PHILADELPHIA FOR ABOUT A YEAR, JACELYN AND HER HUSBAND BOUGHT A HOUSE.
Jacelyn Blank: It was in the East Kensington Neighbors area civic area. So I started attending the civic meetings, and that is where I met Nykia.
MEREDITH: NYKIA PEREZ KIBLER IS A BORN AND RAISED PHILADELPHIAN WHOSE PASSION FOR NATURE LED TO A MASTERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.
Jacelyn Blank: And we hit it off. Got to got to talking about environment and all those things. And she said, Hey, I'm taking the pay just tree tender training. Would you have interested in that? And I was like, Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Why not?
MEREDITH: THE PHILADELPHIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY IS PROBABLY MOST KNOWN FOR THE FLOWER SHOW THEY PUT ON EVERY SPRING BUT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A LOT OF PROGRAMS AROUND THE CITY GEARED TO HELP IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ALL PHILADELPHIANS THROUGH PLANTS! ONE OF THOSE INITATIVES IS THE TREE TENDER PROGRAM.
Jacelyn Blank: So the tree tender organization was actually started 30 years ago by Mindy Maslin, who started working for a Pennsylvania horticulture society, and her job was to launch the tree tender program. And that was a way for more street trees to be planted in the city, throughout the city, using citizen scientists, just regular citizens who took the training, learning how to plant trees.
MEREDITH: OVER 65 HUNDRED PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRAINED IN HOW TO PLANT AND CARE FOR STREET TREES. THE GOAL IS THAT THESE TREE TENDERS WILL FORM GROUPS IN THEIR OWN AREA TO HELP NEIGHBORS PLANT AND CARE FORE TREES OF THEIR OWN.
Jacelyn Blank: and that's where we ended up meeting our ultimate third partner, DIna.
MEREDITH: ENTAMOLOGIST DINA RICHMAN ALSO LIVED IN THE KENSINGTON AREA.
Jacelyn Blank: And right off the bat pretty much as soon as we were done with that course, where did we organize and become family tree people? And not even too long after that did we apply it to be a not for profit. We just put out an ad in the the Star, the news, the local newspaper, the star in the spirit saying hey, free street. And people started applying and we probably planted about 50 trees or so that first planting and we just have done it ever since.
Everything is volunteer. We do two street tree plantings a year. And then we started with pruning clubs. And then other little events. We are such a well-oiled machine with so many people that have volunteered with us for over a decade and now more certified arborists that have been coming to our plantings that are leading our groups.
MEREDITH: IT MAY SEEM LIKE PLANTING TREES IS STRAIGHT FORWARD – YOU DIG A HOLE AND PUT IT IN THE GROUND. BUT THERE’S A REASON THE TREE TENDERS CERTIFICATION IS 9 HOURS OF INSTRUCTION AND BECOMING AN ISA CERTIFIED ARBORIST REQUIRES OVER A 15 HUNDRED HOURS OF EXPERIENCE.
Jacelyn Blank: there's a lot to know that like my whole life, I didn't know a thing about them. They were just their right. And then I took the tree under training and walked around my neighborhood with very different ones. On how I viewed trees specifically in an urban environment
MEREDITH: TREES EVOLVED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS TO HAVE LOTS OF SPACE. THEIR BRANCHES EXTENDED TO THE SKY COVERED IN LEAVES THAT CONVERTED CARBON DIOXIDE INTO OXYGEN IN A PROCESS POWERED BY THE SUN. THEIR ROOTS EXTENDED OUT, ACROSS THE SURFACE OF THE NUTRIENT RICH SOIL NEARLY AS FAR AS THE CANOPY WHERE THEY ABSORBED THE WATER AND OXYGEN THEY NEEDED.
Jacelyn Blank: Philadelphia was a wooded area at one point and then slowly became an urban area. And people didn’t understand the science of why trees are important.
MEREDITH: WITHOUT PLANNING OUR CITIES WITH CONSIDERATION FOR THESE MASSIVE PLANTS, WE FORCE OUR URBAN TREES TO LIVE CRAMMED INTO SPACES DICTATED BY US. THEIR BRANCHES CAN’T GET IN THE WAY OF CARS OR PEDESTRIANS OR POWER LINES. THEIR ROOTS GET A MEASLY 3 FEET OF OPEN SOIL CARVED OUT OF THE SIDEWALK. WE REALLY HAVEN’T SET OUR TREES UP TO SUCCEED.
Jacelyn Blank: So we have a laundry list of stipulations, right. And needs to be so many, like 30 feet from a fire hydrant from the corner of a property for safety issues and needs to be like, I think, 15 feet from a stop sign driveways, utilities, yada, yada. And there's so many regulations and it's all basically for air traffic safety.
MEREDITH: EVEN IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE TREES CAN GO WHILE GIVING RIGHT OF WAY TO CARS THERE ARE STILL LOTS OF CHALLENGES.
Jacelyn Blank: We’ve been battling with the increase in development in our neighborhood, with the developers to be more mindful about where they're putting their infrastructure so gas and water lines. And it seems like they're putting it all in in the spaces that were the viable spots to put a tree. Now we can't put one at all.
There are times where we'll have a pit cut in the sidewalk and our volunteers will go out to plant a tree and then they'll find that there's another sidewalk, all of the soil. So there's that. We're just layering more concrete on top of everything.
MEREDITH: SO MUCH OF WHAT HAPPENS IN A TREE UNDERGROUND IN THE ROOTS. THEY OBVIOUSLY PROVIDE STABILITY ROOTING THE TREES INTO THE GROUND. BUT THEY ALSO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ABSORBING THE WATER AND NUTRIENTS VITAL FOR THE TREE TO GROW. THE ROOTS HOLD 50-70% OF THE ENERGY THE PLANT CREATES. AND RESEARCHERS HAVE JUST STARTED LEARNING ABOUT HOW TREES CONNECT TOGETHER THROUGH A NETWORK OF ROOTS AND FUNGAL MYCELIUM. IT'S AMAZING TO THINK ABOUT HOW MANY ROOTS FROM DIFFERENT TREES MAY BE UNDER YOUR FEET AS YOU ARE WALKING PAST A TREE PIT.
Jacelyn Blank: So you can imagine that the majority of the root system is growing beyond that but it’s encapsulated by concrete or the street and then it hits a wall against the foundation of the House. The pit size just isn’t big enough. We’ve been advocating for them to be cut even bigger and we ’ve been able to get more funding to widen people’s pits or just to have a larger pit in general
MEREDITH: BUT FINDING SPACE FOR ROOTS ISN’T THE ONLY CHALLENGE THE TREE TENDERS FACE.
Jacelyn Blank: Other issues are just finding making sure that we have the right species in the right location. There are a lot of aging trees in throughout the entire city and sidewalks, and they were just the inappropriate species for that space. They planted them young under wires. Lo and behold, it's a sycamore and it's a gingko.
And then pico comes by because people want their electricity and they just hack the tree. And then that causes more problems down the road because you're opening up wounds for disease and decay.
MEREDITH: OF COURSE TREES ALSO YEARS AND YEARS OF BAD PR TO COMBAT.
Jacelyn Blank: people not wanting them hey didn't use, not wanting birds pooping on their cars and not wanting to clean up leaves. Um, I don't know, having a strong distaste for nature is unfortunate.
MEREDITH: TREES HAVE BEEN PAINTED AS A NUISANCE WITH LITTLE TO NO BENEFITS FOR DECADES. A LOT OF THIS DISTASTE COMES FROM MISINFORMATION. ON BIG MISPERCEPTION IS THAT TREES WILL HARM YOUR HOME AND COST YOU A FORTUNE.
Jacelyn Blank: I always think about, um, Little Shop of Horrors with the plant. The plant is not attacking your pipes. However, the root system could get into your pipes if there was already a breach in your pipe, if it’s broken
MEREDITH: USUALLY, HOMEOWNERS ONLY KNOW ABOUT OLD PIPES UNTIL AFTER THEY CRACK AND THE TREE ROOTS FIND THEIR WAY IN. AT FIRST GLANCE IT MAY LOOK LIKE THE TREE CAUSED THE ISSUE INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IT. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS A COMMON THEME IN A LOT OF HUMAN VERSE NATURE CONFLICTS. AND IT ALL COMES TO LACK OF EDUCATION.
Jacelyn Blank: the root system of a tree They only grow 12 to 24 inches in depth. They mostly grow out lengthwise. People always assume that they're growing down deep. So I say, you know, your gas line, your water line, those are six feet underground. Trees, roots are not going to get there unless, of course, there is a a breach. There's something going on underneath the sidewalk.
Um, the bigger the tree, the the deeper the roots will go. But not that far. Um, and they because they need oxygen, they need to be able to, you know, get the oxygen that's coming down through the soil, into the root system
MEREDITH: SO THESE MISPERCETPIONS STOP PEOPLE FROM GETTING TREES BUT CARING FOR A STREET TREE IS ALSO A LOT OF WORK.
Jacelyn Blank: But I think the biggest thing that people don't understand is that it's it's a commitment. So you need to water that tree 20 gallons to 30 gallons a week for up to two years, except for when the ground's frozen. You need to prune it when things are damaged because it most likely will get damaged. We'd rather get done appropriately with the right tools and and mindfully then trucks or people
MEREDITH: SOMEHOW INSPITE OF THIS ALL TREES ARE BEING PLANTED EVERY YEAR.
Jacelyn Blank: We’re planting over a thousand trees collectively as a tree tender organization throughout the city every planting twice a year. And at this point we’re well over planting 2000 plus trees all throughout Kensington.
MEREDITH: PHILLY TREE PEOPLE PROVIDES TREES TO BOTH FISHTOWN AND KENSINGTON WHERE TREE CANOPY COVERAGE IS BETWEEN 3-8%. BOTH AREAS ARE GOING THROUGH GENTRIFICATION – THOUGH IT’S MOVING BIT FASTER IN FISHTOWN. YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF KENSINGTON BECAUSE IT’S HOME TO ONE OF THE COUNTRIES BIGGEST OPEN AIR DRUG MARKETS AND IS BROUGHT UP A LOT IN NEWS COVEREAGE ABOUT THE OPIOD CRISIS. IT ALSO HAS A POVERTY RATE THAT HOVERS AROUND 50%. THAT’S NEARLY DOUBLE THE CITY AVERAGE. RATES OF PEOPLE UNEMPLOYED, UNDERINSURED AND LIVING WITH CHRONIC DISEASES ARE ALL ALSO ABOVE AVERAGE. THE CITY STRUGGLES WITH IMPLIMENTING LARGE SCOPE PROGRAMS THAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP THE COMMUNITY. AND WHILE IT MAY SEEM TRIVIAL, TREES COULD BE PART OF THE SOLUTION.
Jacelyn Blank: in specific neighborhoods like Kensington, North Kensington, they don't have the shade and because of that heat island effect, that's cause for all of that heat retention also is cause for a lot of premature deaths in people in our city, throughout our city, They don't also, you know, it's typically in line with a lower socio economic class of people that don't have the funding or the resources to have proper air conditioning.Um, so they're hotter and that leads to early death.
MEREDITH: URBAN TREES ARE ALSO LINKED TO CLEANER AIR AND LOWER ASTHMA RATES. DID YOU KNOW THAT IN PHILADELPHIA KIDS WITH ASTHMA MISS AN AVERAGE OF THREE WEEKS OF SCHOOL? THOSE ARE DAYS THEY MAY BE IN THE HOSPITAL AND THAT THEIR PARENTS MAY MISS OF WORK – SO IT’S JUST NOT OUR PHYSICAL HEALTH THAT’S IMPROVED BY TREES BUT THE HEALTH OF OUR SOCIETY.
Jacelyn Blank: there's straight line trees are more welcoming for people and neighbors tend to sit outside more and so they get to know each other more. So there's actually been a link in a decrease in domestic violence and other violent acts that happen throughout the city like a greener place is inherently cleaner because there's people involved in invested in our, um, taking care of the environment because it makes you happier.
MEREDITH: SO AGAINST THE CHALLENGES AND WITH A SENSE OF URGENCY THE TREE TENDERS AROUND THE CITY HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET MORE TREES IN THE GROUND. AND THEN THEY GOT SOME PRETTY DEVESTATING NEWS.
Jacelyn Blank: PHS and Parks and Recreation work with the Dept of Forestry. They wanted to do a study like Oak Tree. Turner's organization has been operating for a while. They've been planting trees at a faster rate than Parks and Rec was able to do. We want to know if what they're doing is really impactful. Is it doing what is it expected to do basically to keep grant funding? Right. So they did this ten year study from 2008 to 2018, using LIDAR to detect tree canopy throughout all of the city.
And after that tenure study tracking all of these trees and their growth, we found that we lost canopy cover. We lost six football worth of canopy cover in that time. So we were a little bit devastated.
But they're able to tell us why. Well, development. We had a huge boom in development at that time. They weren't necessarily detecting what species tree.
So there are a lot of trees that were the Pallone or the lamp or invasive species that are not from this area. And although they were canopy at one point. So the removal of that, the fact that we had an aging canopy that was just naturally dying and although we had put in thousands of trees, some of them just weren't big enough to be detected by LiDAR.
But we also just recognized where the heat island islands where what neighborhoods throughout the city did not. I mean, you can see it on the ground, but you can when you see it from above. It's stark. The difference between where there's green coverage and where there's more. So out of that study, we have the trees on it. So all the mines, the tree tenders, the arborists, the environmentalists, the professors on all those different fields came together.
Politicians. What do we need to do? Um, and from there that they were like, Oh, well, we need a plan, so yeah, we do. We created the Philly Dream Plan
MEREDITH: THE PHILLY TREE PLAN’S MAIN AIM IS TO INCREASE TREE CANOPY EQUITABLY THROUGHOUT EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD WITH A GOAL OF HITTING 30% URBAN TREE COVER IN THE NEXT DECADE.
Jacelyn Blank: and then the stop was lobbying that politicians actually take it seriously and start writing legislation. Um, and it's slow and painful and we lost a lot of trees in that time.
MEREDITH: IT CAN TAKE DECADES TO REPLACE A MATURE CANOPY TREE SO IF WE’RE GOING TO REACH THAT GOAL OF INCREASING THE CANOPY BY 27% WE NEED TO START PLANTING A LOT MORE TREES NOW.
Jacelyn Blank: you can get a street tree through a tree tender organization. You can get a street tree through parks and Recreation, or you can hire your own private company to do the work for you. Um, both the tree tender organization and Parks and Rec are free. However, Parks and Recreation does not have the funding to fulfill all of the names that there are as far as planting new trees, taking all trees down, doing pruning work.
MEREDITH: REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE TALKING EARLIER ABOUT THE LACK OF FUNDING PHILLY PUTS TOWARDS TREES AND GREEN SPACES IN GENERAL?
Jacelyn Blank: The Philly Tree Tenders organization has really fostered a brilliant relationship with parks and recreations over the year. A lot of things are much more streamlined now.
MEREDITH: NOT ONLY DO WE NEED TO PLANT MORE TREES BUT WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF THE ONES WE ALREADY HAVE. AND FOR THAT JACELYN HAS A FEW TIPS!
Jacelyn Blank: Do not add more soil when we plant our trees. That's the way it should look and always look
MEREDITH: TREES NATURALLY WIDEN AT THE BOTTOM. THIS IS CALLED THE ROOT FLARE AND ADDING SOIL ABOVE THAT CAN CAUSE A LOT OF PROBLEMS.
Jacelyn Blank: Because you've covered it's root flare, it's not getting the oxygen it needs. So that makes it unstable walking Make sure there's absolutely no weeds in your pit that's the other point to that is that weeds grasses have more tenacious root systems and take will absorb and wick away the water, the necessary water to the tree from the tree's root systems. Yeah, definitely no need So that's another reason why we don't want we don't want perennial plants.
Jacelyn Blank: I've seen a lot of people do perennials, like, okay, I get it, you want it to look pretty. But that is also in competition for the much hated water that it's hardly getting. The trees roots are hardly getting. We if you want to put flowers in there, we usually say put in annuals. And then that way when you notice that they need water, oh, I should water my tree.
And then also it's just the root systems don't get so large that they're not taking away the water resource that's comfortable from rainfall and yeah,
MEREDITH: JACELYN ALSO SUGGESTS ADDING BARRIERS TO KEEP DOGS AND PEOPLE OUT OF THE TREE PIT. THE BEST BARRIER IS HIGHER ON THE SIDEWALK SIDE AND TAPERS DOWN TO THE STREET ALLOWING SOIL AND EXCESS WATER TO RUN OUT. EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A TREE OF YOUR OWN THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITES THROUGOUT THE CITY TO CARE FOR THE TREES IN OUR URBAN FOREST.
Jacelyn Blank: I've tried encouraging people. I go, I know our neighbors association meetings and saying, do you have pent up rage come you solve cheers cut your anger out like, oh, they're just like a little bit of fun. But when I do get people out and they do the work, this is good. I like this. It's really satisfying, totally satisfying.
MEREDITH: AND IF YOU’RE NOT A HANDS ON KIND OF PERSON BUT YOU STILL WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT GETTING MORE TREES IN THE GROUND, MONEY ALWAYS HELPS! WORKING TO PLANT MORE TREES, DESPITE ALL THE CHALLENGES AND THE SLOW PROGRESS – I ASK JACELYN IF SHE SAW EVIDENCE THAT THINGS ARE MOVING FORWARD.
Jacelyn Blank: We just need more widespread education on it. Like everything. but that's my job to be preaching to anybody who will listen.
MEREDITH: THAT WAS JACELYN BLANK WITH THE PHILADELPHIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S TREE TENDER GROUP – PHILLY TREE PEOPLE. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PHILLY TREE PEOPLE ORs TO FIND A TREE TENDERS GROUP NEAR YOU CHECK OUT THE LINKS IN THE SHOW NOTES. AND IF YOU CAN – CONSIDER GETTING YOUR OWN STREET TREE OR VOLUNTEERING TO HELP CARE FOR A NEIGHBORS.
OK LET’S ANSWER SOME QUESTION FROM YOU!
NATE VOGEL IN SOUTH PHILLY WRITES:
One question I’m really curious about is managing the microclimate of a South Philly back patio. These patios, as you probably know, are basically cement wells surrounded by houses and other cement wells. They get so hot! And they have weird patterns with sunlight because of all the walls everywhere around. My plants so often end up cooking later in the summer. . if you have any ideas for resources That I could learn from, I’d really appreciate it, or maybe dealing with urban microclimates might be an interesting podcast episode.
I LOVE THIS QUESTION. FOR GARDENERS, MICROCLIMATES CAN BE A FRUSTRATING FORCE THAT CAUSES SOME PLANTS TO MYSTERIOUSLY THRIVE AND OTHERS TO COMPLETELY FAIL.
A MICROCLIMATE IS THE CLIMATE IN AN AREA THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM ITS SURROUNDINGS. SO, THE HEAT ISLAND AFFECT THAT WE’VE TALKED ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE AND IN EPISODE ONE WITH HELENA VAN VLIET WITH BIOPHILLY IS AN EXAMPLE OF MICROCLIMATE. THE TEMPERATURE IN THE CITY IS HIGHER THAN THE SURROUNDING AREA. BUT ALSO WITHIN THE CITY OR YOUR GARDEN THERE ARE EVEN SMALLER MICROCLIMATES. THESE CAN INCLUDE CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE, WIND SPEED AND DIRECITON HUMIDITY AND ANYTHING ELSE.
IN CITIES THINGS LIKE DRYER VENTS CAN MAKE SECTIONS OF YOUR GARDEN HOTTER AND MORE HUMID THAN OTHER SECTIONS. OR IN NATE’S CASE – CINDERBLOCK WALLS REFLECTING AND TRAPPING HEAT IN A CONCRETE PATIO. YOU COULD HAVE YOUR PLANTS IN CONTAINERS THAT CAN BE EASILY MOVED AS THE SUN TRAVELS ACROSS YOUR PATIO BUT, HONESTLY, THAT CAN BE A LOT OF WORK. ONE THING YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER IS AN AWNING OR SHADE OF SOME SORT. THIS CAN HELP CUT DOWN ON THE DIRECT AND REFLECTED SUN AND IF ITS EASILY RETRACTABLE YOU CAN PUT IT UP JUST DURING THE HOTTEST TIMES. YOU COULD EVEN GO EXTRA GREEN AND CREATE A SHADE USING TRELLISED PLANTS. I’VE ACTUALLY SEEN THIS IN A SOUTH PHILLY BACKYARD IT WAS A KIND OF PERGOLA WITH SQUASH GROWING UP IT AND ACROSS THE TOP. THE SQUASH LOVED THE SUN AND SHADED THE PATIO BELOW.
EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GROW PLANTS OVER YOUR HEAD, GROWING HEAT LOVING PLANTS UP THE WALL WOULD CUT DOWN ON THE REFLECTED LIGHT. SUN LOVING PLANTS LIKE SUCCULENTS AND MEDITERRANEAN HERBS WOULD DO WELL IN VERTICAL PLANTERS ABSORBING THE HEAT RATHER THAN BOUNCING IT BELOW INTO YOUR PATIO. EVEN PAINTING THE WALLS A DARKER COLOR SO THEY ARE ABSORBING NOT REFLECTING THE LIGHT MAY HELP. FINALLY, SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS AND GO WITH PLANTS THAT LOVE SUN AND HEAT.
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU’VE BEEN REALLY OBSERVING YOUR GARDEN AREA WHICH IS THE BEST THING A GARDENER CAN DO TO IMPROVE THEIR PLANTINGS! LET ME KNOW IF YOU TRY ANY OF THESE THINGS AND HOW IT GOES! AND YOU ARE RIGHT – THIS IS A GREAT TOPIC TO REALLY EXPLORE MORE DEEPLY IN ANOTHER EPISODE. THANKS FOR THE IDEA!
IF YOU HAVE GARDEN RELATED QUESTIONS, PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME AT MEREDITH AT COOL GOON PRODUCTIONS.COM.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR LISTINING TO THIS EPISODE OF GRITTY AND GREEN. SPECIAL THANKS TO JACELYN BLANK AND ALL THE TREE TENDERS OUT THERE! LET’S SUPPORT THEM AS WE STRIVE TO GET TO 30% URBAN TREE CANOPY!
AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SHARE NEXT WEEK’S EPISODE OF GRITTY AND GREEN. IF YOU’RE ENJOYING THIS PODCAST I’D LOVE IT IF YOU’D LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, RATE ALL THE THINGS SO THAT OTHERS CAN FIND IT.
GRITTY AND GREEN IS PRESENTED BY GREEN PHILLY.
IN COLLABORATION WITH COOL GOON PRODUCTIONS.
IT WAS WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND EDITED BY ME, MEREDITH NUTTING.
THEME MUSIC BY KAZUYA
IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY GO TO GREENPHL.COM