Joan and Richard Wielgoszinski at New Ardmore Circle where they watered 9 trees for two years.

Joan and Rich Wielgoszinski have been Tree Adopters since 2009. For the first two years, they faithfully watered nine trees in New Ardmore Circle, carrying 30 one-gallon containers of water from home each week and then refilling them at the home of a neighbor who graciously volunteered to supply them with water. During the extreme drought of 2009, they often watered the trees twice a week. As Rich and Joan noted, “There is no shade in the Circle and the road around it gets very hot; the soil dries out very quickly.”

To make their work a little easier, Rich attached two wooden sticks to the bottom of each watering bucket, thus eliminating the need to place the sticks under the buckets prior to watering and to pick them up after watering. Joan said, “While we were waiting for buckets to empty, we would pick up trash, prune where necessary, pull weeds, and listen to the Phillies on the truck radio!”

After two years, the trees in New Ardmore Circle, now well established, didn’t need to be watered so during the summer of 2011, Joan and Rich turned their attention to caring for two newly planted trees at North Malin Road Park. “Compared to watering nine trees, watering two trees is a breeze,” according to Joan who said that she wouldn’t recommend that anyone take on nine trees. “It’s just too much water to carry.”

Joan, a gardener, and Rich, who helps, volunteered to water trees after meeting Rick Ray, MTC President, who told them that street trees significantly lower the temperature of the road. “That convinced us to get involved in this effort, ” and that is why they believe that more trees should be planted in the median strip along the West Chester Pike, especially east of route 320.

In 2010, Joan convinced her sister and brother-in-law, also residents of Marple Township, to become Tree Adopters. Both Joan and her sister grew up in Marple, and Joan and Rich now live in the house that Joan’s parents built in 1940. Last year they lost a 50’ tree in their back yard. They replaced it with two trees which they planted bare root.