May 05, 2026
Provided Image/Fairmount Park Conservancy
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Fairmount Park Conservancy will plant 500 trees, 200 shrubs and 250 herbaceous plants along Meadow Lake in FDR Park, above. The $48,000 project is part of a larger grant program to prevent erosion.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will plant 500 trees along Meadow Lake in FDR Park this fall after the organization received $276,000 in grants for ecological restoration across Philadelphia and its four collar counties.
The organization set $48,000 aside for this project, which will be completed by the Fairmount Park Conservancy and also include 200 shrubs and 250 herbaceous plants. Another $5,000 will be used to restore the tree canopy along the Port Richmond Trail in collaboration with the Delaware River City Corporation.
A representative from PHS said there are no dates set for the project to begin, but plantings typically start at the end of October and go through November.
PHS received the money for its Trees for Watersheds program, which promotes new trees and shrubs to manage stormwater, reduce erosion and filter out sediment and pollutants before they reach the water systems. The program offers funding, technical assistance and planting support for projects in priority watersheds.
Since it kicked off in 2005, Trees for Watersheds has overseen the planting of 240,000 trees, shrubs and seedlings.
"We are very grateful for the support from the Trees for Watersheds program to advance our ongoing ecological restoration work in FDR Park, where trees are key to our ongoing strategy," Fairmount Park Conservancy CEO Tony Sorrentino said in a statement.
This year's grant was funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Aqua Pennsylvania. In addition to the Philadelphia projects, it will support planting alongside Brandywine Creek, Darby Creek, Harriton Preserve and the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, plus mitigating storm damage in Cheltenham Township.
FDR Park is in the middle of a $250 million renovation to add a new welcome center, turf athletic and baseball fields, tennis and basketball courts and designated wetlands. Plans also include planting 7,000 native trees. As part of renovations, officials removed 48 heritage trees and 375 smaller ones, WHYY reported, and residents filed a lawsuit against the project. However, a judge denied the request to halt renovations in March.
"We are very grateful for the support from the Trees for Watersheds program to advance our ongoing ecological restoration work in FDR Park, where trees are key to our ongoing strategy," said Tony Sorrentino, CEO of the conservancy.
