Providence Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Ray Perreault of Groundwork Providence at the former site of Sprague Industries which is a brownfield site. Groundwork Providence is turning it into a tree nursery. In the background are the Westfield Lofts.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It doesn't look like much from afar, just a fenced-in plot of land on a vacant block in the West End.
The site is surrounded by clumps of artemesia, spikes of mullein and other weeds. A pile of tires sits in one corner of a crumbling parking lot near rotting wooden pallets and other trash. Mill buildings rise up like walls on all four sides.
But inside the fence is an unexpected sight: 293 plastic pots lined up in neat rows. Nearly all have young trees growing in them. There are locust and American smoke bush saplings, tulip poplar and scrub oak, black cherry and viburnum, 26 varieties in all.
"We know of no other urban tree nursery anywhere else in the country," said Ray Perreault, a program director with Groundwork who's in charge of the nursery. "This is a unique way of growing trees."
The nursery will serve multiple purposes. It will supply trees to property owners around the city as part of a long-term project to enhance Providence's tree canopy. It will be a pocket of green space in what was once an industrial area that is slowly gentrifying. And it will be a place to train workers in tree care.
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