Enter to win a tree planting by Connor Barwin

With a convincing enough pitch, one lucky Philadelphia family will have Philadelphia Eagle Connor Barwin personally plant “Bud the Tree” in their back yard, thanks to the Spring 2016 TreePhilly Yard Tree Giveaway.

Registration is now open for property owners to obtain large shade trees, small flowering trees and fruit trees through the TreePhilly Yard Tree Giveaway, sponsored by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Fairmount Park Conservancy and TD Bank.

“My goal, obviously, is to make the Eagles the best football team in the country, but I mean it when I say I want to make Philadelphia the best city in the country, and to do that, we need to make it the greenest city in the country,” Barwin said Friday in Rittenhouse Square.

“I’m going to be personally planting Bud the Tree here in somebody’s back yard. It’s a simple social media contest. Just go on Twitter, Instagram, post why you need a tree in your back yard. We’ll pick a winner. Use the hashtag ‘#phillytreetrek.’ Tell us why you need the tree, and we’ll pick a winner sometime in the next couple of months and I’ll put this tree in your back yard and plant it.”

Parks and Recreation Commission Kathryn Ott-Lovell said that since the city started the tree giveaway program, it’s distributed 12,000 trees throughout Philadelphia. It serves two purposes. The first is to educate Philadelphians about the importance of trees and the second is to dispel any tree myths folks might about what damages trees could do to their property or to their utility lines.

“Its really about promoting the wonderful things that trees can do for our city, and the urgent need we have to increase the city’s tree canopy and to protect our urban forest,” Ott-Lovell said.

Registration is open now through April 10.