Myrtle Beach adding trees to lakes along Airpark Drive
Backed by a host of volunteers, the city of Myrtle Beach is set to spruce up the lakes along Airpark Drive on Saturday with 75 new trees that will not only help protect the lakes, but complement the scenery of an upcoming trail system.
“These two lakes that we’re putting the trees around will eventually have bike and walking trails around them,” said Diane Moskow-McKenzie, senior planner with the city. The city received about $705,000 in grant money to do both the tree planting and the trail system project, she said.
One trail is already complete, she said, and the rest of the project is in the works, but the tree planting Saturday will eventually add a little color to the system.
The tree planting is set to take place along Airpark Drive in The Market Common area from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday.
“We received a grant from the Alliance for Community Trees and CSX Railroad to plant 75 trees and to create a riparian buffer” around the lakes on both sides of Airpark Drive, Moskow-McKenzie said.
The riparian buffer will be a greenery guard for the lakes filtering out bacteria and pollutants that wash through stormwater.
A $5,000 grant helped the city purchase five dawn redwood, 25 black gum, 15 river birch, 25 bald cypress and five fringetrees to plant in the area.
Lois Edwards, an urban forester; Richard Kirby, who leads the city’s parks; and Chad Hudson, a certified arborist with the city, will be onsite to help volunteers learn the ins and outs of tree planting.
“We’ll explain what size the hole should be, what type of tree will survive in this area, how you maintain the tree with mulch, and how to stake them,” Moskow-McKenzie said. “So it’s actually a how to plant trees and take care of them” event.
This is the third year the city has received grant funding from the alliance to plant trees, she said. The Alliance for Community Trees is now a part of the National Arbor Day Foundation.
The city is celebrating its 18th year as a Tree City USA.
The trail system project was funded in part by a $300,000 grant from the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority and a $300,000 grant from the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study, Moscow-McKenzie said.
Emily Weaver: 843-444-1722, @TSNEmily
This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach adding trees to lakes along Airpark Drive."