Chelsea Square is a relaxing locale in the summertime.
There is the fountain and a nice walking area.
The brick sidewalks are quaint and the police presence – with the headquarters across the street – is unrivaled.
However, there have never been quite enough trees, until now.
Volunteers from the Chelsea Collaborative’s Green Space Youth Crew and the TD Bank Green Streets Team joined the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the City of Chelsea on Friday, June 20, to plant 20 trees in Chelsea Square in one day.
“We have a lot of work to do today and we’re excited to kick off the Chelsea Greening the Gateways pilot program here today,” said DCR Forest Service employee Hilary Parasmo.
Chelsea has been designated to be the first Gateway City to receive funding and assistance from the state to plant numerous trees over the summer. On Friday, the effort was officially kicked off in Chelsea Square, though there have already been plantings done this spring. Last Friday’s plantings, which included Japanese Lilac trees and Redbud trees, were funded by NStar.
Not only will they be planting street trees and trees in public place, but also they will be soliciting private property owners to let them plant new trees on private property.
Chelsea Collaborative’s Roseanne Bongiovanni said the summer work program of Green Space ECO Youth Crew will be focusing on getting private property owners to allow plantings. She said they will soon be making a very big push to get permission for new trees.
Programs such as the EOEA Energy Initiative and the TD Bank/Arbor Day Foundation Green Streets grant are enabling the City of Chelsea to plant more than 300 street trees this calendar year, a twofold increase over last year and a threefold increase over any previous year, said Chelsea Tree Board Chair Andy DeSantis. So far this year, 140 street trees have been planted by the City and the DCR Forestry Division throughout Chelsea.
Up to 1,700 trees will also be planted on private properties by the DCR Forestry Division over the remainder of the Spring season continuing into the Fall of 2014 and into the Spring of 2015.