Butler residents adopt specially selected trees
Despite having a limited amount of green space at his Butler home, Stephen Sheptak had a new tree planted in his yard Wednesday.
Sheptak applied for the Adopt-A-Tree program through the Butler Shade Tree Commission, and its members were able to pick a tree that best fit the conditions of his environment.
The small area between his yard and the road was perfect for the small stature of a hornbeam tree.
“We left it up to them what they thought would be good for our area and what they thought we should plant,” Sheptak said. “It's nice to be able to have some of this in the city around our streets and everything. They put the tree right in front of my property.”
The Butler Shade Tree Commission planted these trees in residents’ yards for free Wednesday, as part of its Adopt-A-Tree program, which its chairwoman Diane Smith said aims to keep the city populated with healthy trees.
Besides the hornbeam tree, First Street saw a new redbud tree planted because the street has a lot of utility poles and redbuds don’t grow to a height that would interfere with the power lines; Washington Street saw the addition of a ginkgo tree because they are generally adaptable to urban settings; and East Pearl Street saw a new hawthorn tree because they thrive in areas with a lot of green space.
The ultimate goal of the Shade Tree Commission is to improve the quality of life for residents of Butler through the promotion of green space and plants, Smith said.
“It's a lot more pleasant to walk on a street that has shade. It cleans the air and the water around it,” Smith said of fresh trees.
Three city residents applied to receive trees through an application released and due last fall, Smith said. The applicants had to show that they had enough space between the sidewalk and the street to sustain a tree, and they had to agree to keep it healthy and maintained for the commission to provide a free tree.
The program costs the commission about $1,000 per tree, according to Smith, and they are relocated from Lake Forest Gardens in Beaver County to residential yards in Butler by employees of Prospect-based company Gargiulo Landscape.
Smith said the project is worth it though, because there are many trees in Butler that are old, in bad shape or have been poorly maintained.
“Butler has a lot of old and aging trees that are in poor condition because maybe they were a really big tree under a utility line that doesn't have a good future,” Smith said. “We want to start replacing those trees with different varieties that can live in the different conditions that we have now.”
Sheptak said one reason he applied for the program was because he recently needed to remove several decaying ones.
The ease of access has him hopeful to apply for the program again in the future.
“It's a nice thing to be able to replace things you removed and redouble those efforts,” Sheptak said. “It's awesome, and hopefully next time we'll be able to get in touch and be able to get another tree planted in the other part of our property.”
Smith said the Shade Tree Commission will likely open applications for the next round of Adopt-A-Tree some time in the summer, for a fall planting date. Interested applicants can email the commission at butlercityshadetree@gmail.com.
“The more young, healthy trees that are around, the better it is for residents,” Smith said.
