BEVERLY — Another 18 trees will be coming to parkways throughout Beverly this spring thanks to a grant from Openlands.
The conservation group dedicated to the Chicago area has already helped plant some 90 trees throughout the Beverly area since 2014, said Margot Burke Holland, executive director of the Beverly Area Planning Association.
"We encourage residents to look at their parkways and come together. Then, we will plant as many [trees] for the spaces we identify," Holland said Monday.
Her group has helped about plant about 40 of the trees in Beverly through Openland's TreePlanters program. Mary Jo Viero, a community organizer with the Beverly association, helps walk neighbors through the process.
The process starts by passing out fliers around a roughly four-block area. Neighbors can then request a tree from Openlands, but must promise to maintain it. The neighbors also come together to plant the trees and learn a bit about them.
"They pick out a variety of trees that are hardy and are built for our environment," Viero said.
The latest group of trees will be planted between 97th and 98th streets, between Seeley and Hoyne avenues, said Viero, adding that the area has seen significant number of trees come down in recent years.
Both Viero and Holland said Chicago also has a program to plant and replace parkway trees. But homeowners sometimes can wait 3-5 years for trees to be replaced through it, they said.
The latest group of homeowners given trees through Openlands will meet at 9 a.m. May 11 at Mike Mazza's home at 9701 S. Hoyne Ave. in Beverly. Mazza helped organize the upcoming planting.
He also works in the landscaping industry and learned about the grant through the Beverly community group.
"My wife and I are relatively new to Beverly, so we have been trying to get involved as much as we can as a way to get to know people and contribute to the community," Mazza said Monday.
Other trees have been planted through Openland grants facilitated by the office of Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) as well as from private residents, said Holland, who plans to apply for more grants for parkway trees this fall.
"We just keep applying in different parts of the neighborhood," Viero said.
