New community group provides 30 Lawrenceville homes with flower boxes

By Rebekkah Ranallo

On Saturday, May 17, neighborhood volunteers planted flowers and herbs in 60 planter boxes at 30 Lawrenceville homes that are ineligible for street trees from the TreeVitalize program. The Garden Club of Allegheny County generously provided funding to make this program possible and free of charge to home owners. Lawrenceville United, whose mission includes neighborhood greening and beautification, was a founding partner of the initiative.

Known as the Lawrenceville Greenscapes Initiative (LGI), the project was born when six Lawrenceville Tree Tenders grew frustrated with the growing list of street tree requests being denied in the neighborhood. While over 700 trees have been planted in Lawrenceville through TreeVitalize, factors such as monolithic curbs, narrow sidewalks, and conflicts with utility lines make hundreds of homes in the neighborhood ineligible for trees through that program.

The LGI volunteers worked for months researching best practices, gathering feedback from Lawrenceville United and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, writing funding proposals, and assessing each denied property. The boxes are now installed and planted with a variety of beautiful flowers and herbs in all three wards of Lawrenceville.

Due to high demand, LGI has created a waiting list of homeowners seeking flowers boxes for next year’s program; the group is pursuing additional revenue to sustain the program in coming years. If you are interested in receiving a flower box, please send an email to greenscapeslawrenceville@gmail.com to have your name added to the waiting list. Those who are ineligible for street trees will receive priority.

If you were one of the lucky recipients of this year’s pilot program, please remember to water your flower box regularly!

LGI thanks Lawrenceville United, Cavacini’s, and the Garden Club of Allegheny County for helping us find creative ways to green our neighborhood.