Treetroit 2
Our third project is on the corner of Elmwood St and Theodore St in Poletown. It is comprised of four lots just across the alley from the Neighborhood Tree Nursery. The first tree planting here happened in 2020.
3185 Theodore, Detroit, MI 48211
Photo by Jim West
The little park holds a grove of White Pine trees that cluster around the white pine who has been calling this place home for perhaps fifty some years. Mingling with them here and there are some flowering trees to look forward to spring blossoms. Dawn Redwoods line the future path to provide shade and grace in the summer, and the fastigiate Bronze Fontaine Hornbeams create a gateway of blazing yellow leaves in the fall to pass through. There is a winding wood chip path in the white clover; it visits the flowering trees and the pines.
The little Elm grove showcases a typical Detroit story: trash that was dumped and left there for years prevented the city mowers from cutting the grass, so trees were able to take hold in a small patch of garbage. Some of these trees are descendants of the majestic 150 year old American Elm across the street. We cleared the trash and grapevines out of this little forest in 2024, and created a little path through it with some stump seating.
Our partners, Archangel Ancient Tree Archives gifted us the three Giant Sequoias that joined Treetroit Two in 2022
Funding for this project was provided by the Chapman Family Foundation, and the bench that now sits under the Mother Pine was donated by a neighbor. Boulders and tulips were installed in 2023 with the support of the City of Detroit and Wayne Metro. Detroit Bird Alliance awarded us a grant to create a native pollinator garden by the Elm grove in 2024. Detroit Future City awarded us a grant to install a bench looking at the Sequoia grove.
You can support this space with volunteer time or monetary contributions too. Our plan is to create a corner bed with low spreading evergreens, and create an ADA accessible path that passes under the Redwoods, between the Hornbeams, and connects to the Nursery.
