Cloverly Park lost one of its grand old trees in early April 2020, downed in heavy winds. The chestnut, near the entrance to the park at Wissahickon and School House Lane, was one of two that flowered each spring. One park neighbor used to make a point of visiting when they were in flower as the sight and smell brought back memories of her childhood in Europe.
From what we know about the history of these two acres in Germantown, it is likely that the chestnut was planted in the nineteenth century, when the land was part of the Edward White Clark family’s estate, Cloverly. It seems to have been among the several specimen trees—planted as focal points because of their shape, species, texture, color, flower, or size—along with the massive paulownia, the towering katsura, and the small weeping sophora.
What we do know is that the park’s trees, like so many in the Parks & Recreation inventory—or urban forest—have not had the benefit of regular professional pruning over most of their many decades. They have also borne many insults: hit with branches, their bark scraped, their fragile roots torn, and repeatedly bumped by the big mowers used in the park. Cloverly’s young trees, some planted as direct successors to the grand old trees, also take a beating—sadly, sometimes quite literally—and we have lost more than one to vandalism.
Even in the best of times, the list of trees that need attention from Parks & Rec’s team of arborists is a very, very long one. Our big katsura has already been on the list for more nearly three years. Now, in the midst of a pandemic and economic pressures, we are not sure when our fallen chestnut will be cleared.
And what of Cloverly’s remaining trees? Public and private funding initiatives support the very important effort to plant more trees in parks, yards, and on streets across the city—bringing shade and beauty while pulling in carbon dioxide. But no funding initiatives focus on maintaining the trees that are already around us.
For this reason, the Friends of Cloverly Park started the Tree Campaign in 2017 to create a reserve of funds for professional pruning and feeding of Cloverly’s trees (to donate, contact the Friends of Cloverly Park through this website) and we stay on the lookout for external funding opportunities that might give the park’s trees a round of professional care.
Photo: Mark Kearney