Impact of Park Trees
Park trees are an essential component of our mission. We plant trees, we nurture their development, and we continue to fight threats facing the canopy they form. Even more, we’ve contributed to discoveries in the field of forestry that are shaping the future of our parks locally and sparking important conversations across the globe. The following studies were conducted from our daily work in Pittsburgh.
Support Pittsburgh’s Park Tree Fund
If this content interests you, please consider a donation to our Park Tree Fund. Our donors receive quarterly updates from the horticulture and forestry team and invitations to tree identification hikes in nearby parks.
The American chestnut tree made up almost 25% of Pennsylvania’s forests prior to a devastating blight in 1950. In an effort to reintroduce the species, the Parks Conservancy spent nearly two decades monitoring a unique hybrid of American chestnut trees and the more blight-resistant Chinese chestnuts. This experimental orchard of backcross breeding can be found in Highland Park.
In a study that won a national award, renowned botanist Dr. Cynthia Morton and our retired horticulture and forestry director Phil Gruszka discovered ten genetically identical species among commonly planted park trees, including the dying London planetrees that once dominated Pittsburgh’s nurseries in the 1920s and lined the perimeter of Schenley Plaza. Nearly 100 of them had to be replaced by the Parks Conservancy in our transformation of this site.
Here’s how we put that research to use:
We plant hundreds of restoration trees every year—with careful consideration of location, species, and the local data we've collected. Included in the groups of volunteers we mobilize are local students who will come to know our parks as they evolve, hopefully for the better. This November, our reforestation efforts will be focused on the following parks:
Frick Park
Especially at the Clayton Hill Deer Exclosures, our largest ecological restoration project to date!
Hays Woods Park
In 2023, we planted our first restoration trees up the trail from the Glass Run Road Trailhead. More will be planted this fall at the Agnew Road Trailhead!
Riverview Park
Dozens of restoration trees were planted this spring in the woodlands surrounding the Chapel Shelter.
McKinley Park
More coming soon! We most recently planted dozens of young pawpaw trees here.
Emerald View Park
You’ll find a number of small deer exclosures around Emerald View, most recently near the Greenleaf trailhead.
Thank You!
You generosity makes this work possible. Thank you for being a friend of the parks.
Support research-backed plantings in your parks.
Become a Park Tree Fund supporter today, and you’ll begin receiving quarterly updates from our horticulture and forestry department and invitations to tree identification hikes throughout the year.
Become a Canopy Keeper
(a monthly giving program for Pittsburgh’s tree lovers)
Want to keep learning?
We encourage you to continue exploring! These links below are a good start. Better yet, find a way to become more engaged with our crew!
NEXTpittsburgh, 2008