Southie Trees is planting two plum trees at Fosters Community Garden. The Garden is located behind the South Boston Action Center on West Broadway. It’s located on Athens Street which runs parallel to West Broadway. We’ll be meeting at 3pm to plant the trees. Supplies and gloves will be available. Contact us with any questions.

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Here’s one of the trees Southie Trees helped to plant at the Grow Boston Greener training! The event was extremely beneficial in learning the proper method of planting a tree and giving it the best opportunity to survive. We’re going to use this knowledge in our upcoming plantings for the spring.

Here’s some of the most important things we learned:

• Make sure the tree gets 15 gallons of water per week after it’s watered. It’s helpful to have a tree gator and to just fill this up once a week
• It’s more important to dig wide than deep for the tree. Only dig as deep where the tree trunk meets the beginning of its roots
• Do not suffocate the tree with mulch. Do not create a “tree volcano” and cover the base completely with mulch
• Use the same soil as you dug up instead of putting in new soil. This allows the tree to adapt by more easily
• Be careful rolling the tree into the hole, do not bend the truck of the tree

And voila!

Check out this helpful tree benefits calculator. It’s helpful in proving to people how important the trees are in the neighborhood to their well being. Access the calculator at this site .

Southie Trees volunteered at the South Boston Public Library Saturday March 24th. 35 people showed up to the event to sweep out street tree pits and clean up East Broadway. We worked on trees from H Street to M Street by cleaning up any old garbage and putting down fresh mulch and Southie Tree signs. We also worked on two green spaces at the library parking lot by planting a flowering tree, some pansies, and three shrubs. Southie Trees is thrilled that so many members of the community care enough to come out and take care of South Boston trees. It not only improved the health of the trees themselves but it makes the area look cleaner and beautiful for the spring.

If you missed this one not to worry! We’re already planning tree planting events, Boston Shines clean ups, and other tree pit clean ups for the upcoming months. April in particular is going to be a big month for environmental initiatives! The success of the tree pit revamp just demonstrates that by volunteering a few hours on a weekend a community can completely change the neighborhood atmosphere. Here’s a before and after picture.

We’re also looking for volunteers this Saturday at the “E” Film Festival. We’re going to have a table to give out pamphlets and information about Southie Trees and it’ll be a chance to find out about other local environmental initiatives, network, and see some great films. Please contact us at southietrees1@gmail.com if you’d like to sign up for a two hour block. The times are from 11-4.

Southie Trees is having our monthly meeting on Thursday February 23 at 6:30pm at the Seapoint Restaurant in South Boston. We’ll be discussing tree planting locations for the Grow Boston Greener grant as well as street tree locations. Also, we’ll be talking about our event in March and volunteer events for the spring.

Especially if you’re new to Southie Trees it’ll be a great opportunity to get to know everyone and have some delicious french fries. Nom nom.

Southie Trees is holding a volunteer event on March 24th 2012!

We’re planning on meeting around 10:30 to have a clean up session for after the parade, focusing mainly on tree beds. We’ve also looked into possibly getting some more trees planted at the South Boston Public library so if that’s a possibility then we’ll be doing that.

For clean up we will be focusing on East Broadway near the public library because afterwards we’re going to meet back at the library for food and a screening of Uprooted, the short film on Southie Trees. We’ll also be using this as an opportunity to inform everyone about upcoming volunteer and tree planting events for the spring.

Please put us in your calendar and we hope to see you there!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTH BOSTON TECH FIRM OPPOSES MBTA CUTS, FARE HIKES
Company Could Pay $10,000 More Each Year; Changes Would Hit Employees, Clients

No matter how you look at it, the proposed MBTA fare hikes are bad for business.  Tech Networks of Boston, an IT services firm located in Andrew Square,  relies on public transportation to get employees to work and to client sites, and to enable customers to access its offices.  “We subsidize train and commuter rail passes for our employees,” says Susan Labandibar, President of Tech Networks.  “These fare increases could cost us nearly $10,000 per year.”

Employee Diane Tirschel has calculated her costs of commuting from Attleboro by commuter rail, with the 50% subsidy provided by Tech Networks.  It’s about even: $197.50 per month for the train, versus $191 per month driving, with a gallon of gas costing $3.50.  “I’m on the fence right now as it is,” says Tirschel.  With the T’s dramatic fare hikes, even the company’s 50% subsidy might not be enough for commuters like Tirschel to continue choosing the train.  “I would like to contribute to making the environment better, but [the fare hikes] are making that hard for me,” says Tirschel.  “Adding thousands of cars to the roadways will not only be environmentally irresponsible, but detrimental for economic growth in the Commonwealth,” says Labandibar.

“The subsidy has allowed several employees, including me, to avoid car ownership altogether,” says Labandibar.  But the fare hikes could change that.  Employee Cordaryll Monroe, who commutes from Ayer, “was considering getting a car when I heard about the MBTA raising their fares.”  Monroe is an ideal transit user: “I walk to the train station.  That’s why I chose to live in Ayer.”  But with drastic fare hikes, it might not make sense anymore.  The fare hikes “can affect everyday living expenses,” says Monroe, so “I have no alternatives right now.  I might get a car.”

“Big businesses are laying people off, but we’re hiring,” says Labandibar.  “Seventeen years ago, when I founded Tech Networks of Boston, I made sure that my office was close to public transportation.  Over the years, thousands of customers and hundreds of employees have saved time and gas by taking the T to our office.  These fare hikes and service cuts are undercutting a key element of our business strategy.”

Susan Labandibar is President of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston and is active in the community.  She has won multiple awards from the City of Boston and national organizations for her environmentally sustainable technology business.  She will speak at Suffolk University on Feb. 28 on “Women Making a Difference in Entrepreneurship.”

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CONTACT:  Susan Labandibar, (617) 269-0299 x301, susan@techboston.com