Philly parks need some love, and locals can give our city’s green spaces plenty of it this month.
From Nov. 13 to 15, more than 100 volunteer groups across the city will roll up their sleeves for the Love Your Park Fall Weekend, an annual celebration that involves everything from planting trees and shrubs to raking leaves and picking up litter. Whether you’re an experienced volunteer or just looking for a way to spend a few hours outdoors, everyone is invited to join in with these outings happening across the city.
This year, volunteers can choose from more than 100 events, with activities tailored to each park’s needs. Tools and gloves will be provided, and interested residents can find a cleanup and register online at any time.
“Our parks are the heart of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, and Love Your Park highlights the important role our communities play in caring for these shared spaces,” says Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson.
According to a release, this year’s celebration carries a specific mission — helping Philadelphia’s parks recover, grow, and thrive for generations to come. One way that’s happening is through Park Trees of Tomorrow, a pilot tree succession planning initiative. Through it, community members are helping shape the future of the city's neighborhood tree canopies by sharing knowledge of how they use and experience their parks alongside professional tree assessments to determine where new trees should go, which species will flourish and how they can best be cared for over time.
Over the past year, five parks (Carroll Park, Dickinson Square Park, Elmwood Park, Jefferson Square Park, and Stephen Girard Park) have completed that planning process, and four of the pilot parks will plant their first cohort of young trees during Love Your Park Weekend. All these efforts also come after microbursts swept through parts of Philadelphia this summer, causing damage, including in many of the pilot project sites.
In total, Love Your Park volunteers are expected to plant 196 trees across 40 parks during the weekend. Fairmount Park Conservancy also plans to add more than 1,250 trees to Philadelphia's urban forest this fall through natural land care, volunteer days, and community stewardship programs like Love Your Park.
The opening event will take place at Stephen Girard Park in South Philadelphia. On Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., volunteers will plant trees and shrubs, gather fallen leaves, and tackle litter and weeds. The event will also feature a DJ, activities for kids, and a speaking program with City and Conservancy officials and community partners.
There will also be additional volunteer opportunities at places like Pretzel Park in Manayunk (Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to noon); Fairhill Square Park (Nov. 15, from noon to 2 p.m.); Cliveden Park in Mount Airy (Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon); Philly Pumptrack in West Philadelphia (Nov. 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.); Wister Woods in Germantown (Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.); Northwood Park in Frankford (Nov. 14, from 1 to 3 p.m.); Jefferson Square Park in South Philadelphia (Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to noon); Stinger Square in Grays Ferry (Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon); and Wissinoming Park in Tacony (Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
For a full schedule of events and information, visit loveyourpark.org
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