Harrison awarded 50 more trees for planting campaign

Harrison’s tree-planting campaign is growing, with plans for another 50 to be planted in the township this year.

Those trees will bring the number planted in the township since 2016 to 140, according to Harrison Commissioner Chuck Dizard.

The latest crop is expected to be planted in early November. The TreeVitalize Pittsburgh program and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy awarded the trees to the township at no cost.

Dizard said the trees are valued at between $200 and $250 each, or $10,000 to $12,500 for all of them.

Of the 50 trees, 30 will be planted along Sycamore Street and 20 will be placed along Union Avenue, said Tom Cajka, chairman of the township’s tree committee.

Cajka said they chose neighborhoods that need trees.

“It’s something Harrison Township can be proud of,” he said.

Dizard said the first trees planted through the program were placed in two plantings in the fall of 2016. Others followed in the fall of 2017 and 2018, and this past spring.

“Harrison is one of the really good examples we have of a really great committee of people who advocate for trees and organize volunteers,” said Brian Crooks, a community forester with the conservancy. “They are one of the most active groups we’ve had the pleasure to work with in the past several years.”

This fall’s planting will be different in that it’s the first where trees are being placed in front of homes, Dizard said. The previous plantings have all been on public property.

“Everybody that’s doing this had to agree to do it,” Dizard said. “This is not the township exerting eminent domain over people’s front yards.”

The trees will be placed within public rights-of-way, Crooks said.

The types of trees to be planted has not been determined. Crooks said they will plant several species to guard against pests and diseases that could spread if the trees were all the same type.

The species selected will be those that do not have aggressive roots that could damage sidewalks or grow too tall into utility lines.

The conservancy, the TreeVitalize program and the township will help care for the trees for the first three years, which Crooks said is crucial to ensure they establish correctly.

“We have always taken care of the trees we plant,” Crooks said.

Property owners will be asked to help with watering the trees. If they’re unable to do so, Dizard said the township’s public works crews will water them.

The trees will be planted in November because they are dormant and will handle the stress better, Crooks said.