250 seedlings planted along Greenway Trail

Around 100 volunteers gathered on Saturday morning to help out with the Green Skies tree planting project.

The event was a partnership between the Homewood Environmental Commission, Samford University, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Boy Scouts. Volunteers at the event planted 250 seedlings along the Homewood Shades Creek Greenway Trail and helped clear invasive species near the Greenway's entrance on Green Springs Highway.

Franklin Lowe, a member of Samford's rugby team, said he and his team members came out to establish a culture of volunteering with the relatively new club.

"We're not just here to play a sport," Lowe said. "We're trying to create a culture of volunteering."

The rugby team helped clear out invasive species, which was a new aspect of this year's Green Skies project, said Jane Reed Ross with the Homewood Environmental Coalition.

"They're taking out privet [and] mimosa, which is crowding out our native plants," she said.

Removing the undergrowth also helped clear the view of the creek, Ross said. They also placed box adler, a tree that thrives around creeks, in the area for soil stabilization.

The seedlings that were planted are all native species and are from the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, including black jack oak, red oak, box adler, water oak, persimmon and chestnut oak. Planting native trees is important, Ross said, because they can thrive in the area and help feed local wildlife.

"Everyone seemed to have fun and many of the runners, walkers and cyclists on the trail that day thanked the volunteers as they worked," Ross said. "Part of our mission in planting the trees is to educate people on the importance of our native tree canopy in the environment and replacing trees that comes down on an annual basis."