The township is continuing the Branching Out initiative – required in its two-year-old tree ordinance – with the donation of 200 trees to residents.
Species include the common serviceberry, the eastern redbud, the flowering dogwood and the swamp white oak. Last year, the township gave away 100 trees; it has doubled the number this year with confidence that it can handle more.
Megan Brown, the township’s deputy chief of staff, said with more trees to distribute, Cherry Hill would temporarily need to disrupt public works and its storage capacity as it waits for residents to pick up their donations. Nonetheless, she added, the township would consider giving away more in the future.
“I don’t have any concerns about the process,” she explained, “but I think, my gut tells me, we’ll find 200 a very comfortable number … We’re kind of disrupting public works’ operations quite a bit in doing this, because the trees get delivered on Earth Day, which is Wednesday, and then they don’t get picked up until Saturday.
” … We’ll assess, and if we think we can do more, we’ll do more.”
Residents who received trees in 2025 aren’t eligible for another this year; the township wants to grow the program with as many additional recipients as possible.
Mayor David Fleisher shared details about the tree giveaway at the beginning of March, and all donation spots were filled by the end of that month. More residents are going on the wait list, in case there are trees left after the giveaway on April 25.
The cost of that effort is paid by a township tree fund that collects money when businesses pay for trees to be removed from their properties. Funds also go toward species planted by public works and volunteers.
Since the fall of 2024, the township has planted around 380 trees, with an additional 365 planned this spring, for a total of about 750.
Brown said the point is for the township to plant trees where they’re needed.
“We have an understanding … of what our tree canopy looks like and where we have more trees versus where we have less trees,” she pointed out. “So we just kind of strategically plant in areas where we have less trees around the community, so we’re touching all the different areas.”
Besides the free tree giveaway, the township continues to have trees planted both by public works employees, 45 scheduled for spring, and volunteers, who will plant about 120. The township had about 15 volunteers on April 18; it hopes to recruit about 35 more to plant this Sunday and twice on Saturday, May 2.
While the township doesn’t monitor trees donated to residents, it does follow up on those planted by public works and volunteers. Of those, fewer than 10 have died, something Brown credits to the types of trees and the care they get after they’re put in the ground.
” … Public works goes out and waters the ones that they’re planting,” she noted. “We have volunteers watering the ones that the volunteers are planting. They’re really surviving well. … “
