To Plant a Tree: Now is time to add major players to home landscapes

Phil Gruszka can't stop smiling as he leans back on a bench in Mellon Park, pointing out a huge native sycamore tree towering over us.

“Look at that white bark with the mottled gray on it against that blue sky,” he says, overjoyed. “How much better does that get?”

Gruszka is director of landscapes and facilities management at Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and a self-proclaimed “tree guy” who has lots of ideas for planting trees in the home landscape. He points out those in the grounds of Mellon Park, which straddles Shadyside and Point Breeze, as some examples. Read Full Article