Northbrook Spruced Up With 81 Donated Trees

Christmas Trees they’re not. But what might be called an early holiday gift from a nursery in Harvard, IL, recently made workers busier than Santa’s elves on Christmas Eve.

It was 81 trees and 12 shrubs the village received, free, and they were planted at eight area locations. Chances are, one of them’s near you. 

“We received two semis loaded with the trees and shrubs. It was a lot of work, but we had everything planted in the ground in four days and spent another four days detailing," said Michael Brouillard, park district grounds manager. "This generous donation allowed us to plant trees that were needed in the parks but were not in the current budget. We’re very pleased that we could improve the public spaces in the community."

The nursery donated the trees because it had extra inventory, and the trees had already been dug from the ground. With winter rapidly approaching and planting season over, Kurt Beystehner from Clavey's Nursery contacted Brouillard and asked if he was interested in any of the trees, worth a combined $15,727.

Gail Baritz said the Park District planted six swamp white oaks and three crabapple trees at , among others. The Park District also planted trees at , , 545 Academy Drive, and .

Trees planted included a variety of crabapples, swamp white oak, ornamental pear, maple, hawthorn, magnolia, horse chestnut and serviceberry trees.