More Shade Trees Planted by the 'Big Tree Project'

More than 200 trees that will hopefully provide shade and oxygen for generations to come in Radnor have been planted since the inception of the Big Tree Project, which added 31 trees to private properties this week.

The project is run by the Radnor Conservancy, funded by Chanticleer, and administratively assisted by Radnor Township.

This week’s planting was targeted at homeowners who used to have an old and tall “shade tree” in the township right of way on their property, but lost it either to disease or old age.

The trees lost — and their replacements — are called shade trees because of the height and width of their branches. Sugar maples and oak trees were planted this week all around the township by Green Scape Landscape Contractor, Inc., which won the bid for the job.

Homeowners who were approached for the plantings did pay $35 to secure their tree, said Kimberly Donches, who heads up the program. The retail value of the trees planted is estimated to be $300 to $400, she said.

“We wanted trees that would be really big,” Donches said. Most of the shade trees that have been lost in Radnor were planted as long as 150 years ago.

“We want to make a new generation of trees,” she said.

As part of the Big Tree Project, trees have been planted everywhere from downtown Wayne to Clem Macrone Park in Garrett Hill.