Community Volunteers to Plant 300 Trees and Shrubs in Scarsdale

132 volunteers of all ages turned out on Saturday to plant trees and shrubs along Brewster Road to help protect Scarsdale's green infrastructure. The Village was fortunate to receive 300 one-two quart trees and shrubs from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. All were native species that were slated to replace invasive plants such as mugwort, knotweed and loose strife that had taken over the area lining the waterway between the northern end of the Scarsdale High School parking lot and library pond. The donated plants included red oaks, red maples, river birch and 200 shrubs which will grow quickly.

Volunteers arrived wearing gardening gloves and waterproof shoes and carrying shovels, ready to plant. Hosted by The Friends of the Scarsdale Parks and Scarsdale Village, the Community Planting day brought out representatives from neighborhood associations, girl and boy scout troops, the Conservation Advisory Counsel and even the Mayor who all showed up to plant a tree.

Beth Roessler from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation said that her department donates trees to seven watershed areas around the state, and recently ran a similar program in the Bronx. The "Trees for Tribs" program provides trees and shrubs for Riparian (streamside) buffers to maintaining healthy streams and waters.

Madelaine Eppenstein, a Co-President of the Scarsdale Friends of the Parks said, "The Friends of the Scarsdale Park's Wetland Restoration Project and the NYS DEC Trees for Tribs program have the potential to restore the Harwood Park forested wetland and to save one of the last open green spaces in the village for the use and enjoyment of all Scarsdalians. The May 2 Community Planting Day co-sponsored by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation and FOSP represents a conservation turning point for the Fox Meadow Brook stream and its ecosystems. FOSP expresses our gratitude to the over 100 volunteers who worked very hard to complete the planting of almost 300 native trees and shrubs in only one day. They can be proud of their participation in a first of its kind community team endeavor – and for taking part in a landmark environmental project to create a nature preserve in one of the oldest named parks in the village."