Earth Day special: NNGI donates 16 trees to Huntington’s Whitman Park
Northport Native Garden Initiative donated 16 trees to Huntington’s Whitman Park; the trees were planted on Earth Day. Pictured here alongside two Amelanchier (Serviceberry) trees are, from left, NNGI’s Sara Abbass, Barbara Bolen, Nicole Tamaro and Matt Gorman.
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The Town of Huntington received an Earth Day treat this week, when a diverse mix of trees, each with unique environmental benefits, were planted in Whitman Park.
On Tuesday, April 24, the Northport Native Garden Initiative (NNGI) celebrated Earth Day by facilitating the planting of 16 native trees in the Melville park, a location suggested to NNGI by Christian Granelli, the Town of Huntington’s senior environmental planner.
NNGI co-founder Matt Gorman approached the town after being awarded a grant of $14,200 from 100 Women of Huntington, a local charitable organization that donates money on a quarterly basis to pre-vetted and voted-upon nonprofits.
“We offered to help the town with trees wherever they needed them and brought them some ideas,” Gorman told the Journal. The town was receptive, he said, eventually landing on Whitman Park because it had just undergone a renovation project that included a new parking lot and tennis and pickleball courts.
Last year, members of 100 Women of Huntington voted to award NNGI with the money, funds earmarked by the group for a native tree planting program. At the April 2024 meeting, Gorman spoke for NNGI alongside his daughter, Bridget, fellow organization co-founders Nicole Tamaro and Sara Abbass, and board members Eileen Gorman and Barbara Bolen.
Gorman explained the benefits of native plants in a delicate and complex ecosystem, and discussed his concern with the number of trees that have recently come down within Northport and the greater Huntington township. “Every time I hear a chainsaw, I squirm a little,” he said, adding that if NNGI received the donation, it would go primarily toward a tree replacement program, planting native trees throughout the town to offset tree removals or fill in barren spaces.
He hopes adding the new trees to Whitman Park is just the beginning. Granelli has already suggested other areas NNGI is planning to donate trees to in the future; plantings in another Huntington park should happen within the next month, Gorman added.
NNGI board member and professional landscaper Jon Holden helped select the tree types and their placement within Whitman park. The trees planted include:
Amelanchier (Serviceberry): These trees provide early spring blossoms for pollinators and berries for birds.
Swamp White Oak: These long-lived trees offer excellent habitat and food for wildlife. Oaks are known as a keystone species because of the amount of organisms they provide food for.
Red Maples: Known for their vibrant fall color, they also provide important shade and support local ecosystems.
Red Bud: These beautiful flowering trees attract pollinators and add a splash of color to the landscape.
In addition to 100 Women of Huntington and Granelli, NNGI thanked the following town officials for making the Earth Day collaboration possible: TOH Supervisor Ed Smyth; Mark Tyree; Jonas Wagner; Nicholas Theodosiou; Sean McEntee; William Musto; Anthony Annunziata; and the entire general services crew for physically planting the trees.
Learn more about NNGI and their spring plant sale here. To date, 100 Women of Huntington has donated over $100,000 to local organizations. Read about their donation to NNGI here.
