Green Days: Salem Common Home To 3 Dozen New Trees

SALEM, MA — Downtown Salem got a lot greener this week through the efforts of the Friends of Salem Common and city employees.

Working with the state delegation and city officials, the Friends of Salem Common coordinated the effort to purchase and plant three dozen new trees of various species, canopies and sizes in what President Susan Moulton told Patch is believed to be the largest mass planting in the Common in more than 100 years.

"It is a significant investment that deserves to be widely celebrated," Moulton said.

The Friends of the Salem Common worked with the city, the Salem Tree Commission, multiple municipal leaders and private donors to supplement a state earmark that Sen. Joan Lovely and former Rep. Paul Tucker worked into legislation.

Moulton credited Trish O'Brien of the Parks and Recreation Department for doing the hard work to make the project a reality over the past two years. Naomi Cottrell of Crowley-Cottrell did the design plan and Leahy Landscaping sourced and is planting the trees through the work of Signature Parks Project Manager Michael Crounse.

Moulton also lauded the efforts of Tree Commission Darleen Melis and the support of City Councilors Caroline Watson Felt, Ty Hapworth and Conrad Prosniewski in making the ambitious concept come to life.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)