Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission Takes Root
Newly formed Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission hopes its efforts grow for years to come .
BY W . B . FRESA
For Kathy Raborn , it ’ s pretty simple — she loves the environment and she loves trees . A landscape designer by trade , she ’ s spent the last 20 years not only growing her business , but also cultivating connections in her Penn Hills community in hopes of someday giving back .
That time has finally come . “ I ’ m so thrilled the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission ( PHSTC ) is finally up and running ,” says Raborn . “ It ’ s taken quite a while to pull everything together , but we ’ ve already had a huge outpouring of support from our mayor and council , as well as the Penn Hills community . We ’ re looking to do great things here .”
Raborn , President of the PHSTC , explains that her idea of a formal commission began when she started her business more than 20 years ago . After taking a class in late 2016 about shade tree commissions , she wrote a letter to Penn Hills Mayor Sara Kuhn , asking her to consider a request to establish the PHSTC . A friend then suggested she speak at the next council meeting in order to get the ball rolling .
“ Anyone who knows me knows I don ’ t like public speaking ,” she notes . “ But in March 2017 , I gave a presentation to city council about the benefits of a shade tree commission . It was well-received and we finally got the ordinance passed and full approval in June 2017 .”
During the second half of last year , Raborn developed a plan and enlisted PHSTC members , whom she had worked with at times over the years . They came with many years of expertise and shared the same vision of a better environment for their beloved Penn Hills .
The PHSTC members include Sandy Feather , a certified arborist and former writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gardening column ; Bryan Dolney , an ecologist with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy ; Katie Schuller , a horticulturalist at Phipps Conservatory and lead orchid grower ; and Tori DeJohn , a mechanical engineer and community activist .
Once the commission was in place , the first act of business was to have a fundraiser , and the members began calling on different businesses to help . Autograph Signs donated a six-foot banner , Penn Hills Lawn and Garden Center donated a tree , and the commission set up a booth at the 2017 Penn Hills Summerfest and raffled off the tree . By October , PHSTC held its first community tree planting at Penn Hills Elementary School .
“ We planted 15 trees of two different species . Lowe ’ s donated five crabapple trees and we salvaged 10 tulip tree seedlings from a Penn Hills resident ’ s yard . We used our first $ 100 to buy fencing , posts and mulch to protect the trees from our very prosperous deer population and were lucky enough to have the Boy Scouts help dig the holes we needed . It was a true community event ,” Raborn says .
It was also the momentum needed to use the winter months to do more planning and hold a workshop on how to prune trees . Fifteen Penn Hills residents attended and they pruned 50 trees at Penn Hills Elementary School .
“ The school is only 5 years old but the trees definitely needed some attention and our workshop did the trick ,” explains Raborn .
Once spring arrived this year , PHSTC kicked things into high gear . “ We held our first Arbor Day tree planting in Penn Hills Community Park on April 14 ,” notes Raborn . “ More than 60 people attended
PHOTOS BY PENN HILLS SHADE TREE COMMISSION
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