Grant partnership adds trees to municipal park
by Kate Shunney
Many hands helped make quick work of the planting of 13 paw paw trees and seven elderberry bushes in Paw Paw’s municipal park near the Potomac River access last Wednesday, October 22.
Students from Megan Bradfield’s science class at Paw Paw High School got their hands into soil and mulch, along with Frank Rodgers from the Cacapon Institute, Ace Moreland and Tyson Spenser of the Paw Paw town crew, Paw Paw town manager Ron Davis, volunteers from the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Shade Tree Commission and Environmental Program Coordinator Josephine Saikali of Region 9 Planning & Development all helped to settle the new trees and shrubs in place on the clear morning.
Plants and supplies were paid for with a $5,000 Chesapeake Bay Trust grant for Community Engagement and Restoration, said Saikali.
The planting is latest portion of a larger concept plan for the town’s newest park, which includes a walking track and recreation space. The Town of Paw Paw was looking to plant paw paw trees – the town’s namesake – in the public space as a recognition of its history and the growing popularity of the native fruit tree.
Saikali pulled in the expertise of commercial paw paw grower Mark Thompson, who also heads up the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Shade Tree Commission.
photos by Kate Shunney
Thompson grows paw paws in Martinsburg, and advised Region 9 about the varieties of tree that should be planted together to ensure fruiting and successful growth, plus how and when they should be planted.
Thompson said wild paw paw trees, like those that grow in abundance along the C&O Canal and elsewhere in Morgan County, need other varieties of the tree around in order to fertilize and bear fruit.
“The way to get them to fruit is to plant a different cultivar,” he said.
Thompson said there is a growing number of people who are “serious” about cultivating different paw paw varieties for better fruit and commercial use.
The trees planted in Paw Paw’s park include a mango paw paw variety, and two other cultivars.
Thompson also suggested the town plant elderberry bushes – a native shrub that bears dark berries in large heads – as a companion plant for the paw paw trees.
“Birds love them and it gives them a place to land,” he said.
The trees and shrubs came from three nurseries in Maryland, said Saikali.
Paw Paw’s town crews will water and maintain the new plants.
Paw Paw science teacher Megan Bradfield said her involvement with students is an extension of her partnership for environmental education with the Cacapon Institute. The school and Institute work together to cultivate and grow trees, which are then sold at the Morgan County Plant Fair and at other events to raise money and encourage tree planting.
Ron Davis thanked the gathered volunteers after a group picture was taken with the newly-planted trees.
“Years from now, you’ll be able to tell your kids you planted these,” he said.
