Our Tree Planting Efforts – Tree Toga!
One generation plants the trees; the next enjoys the shade (Chinese proverb)
Since 2014, Sustainable Saratoga has been working to get more trees planted in Saratoga because “trees pay us back.” To date, our Tree Toga planting efforts have planted 255 large-growing street trees throughout Saratoga Springs.
Read about the success of our recent Tree Toga 9 planting event here
#NextGenTree Campaign: What will be our legacy to Saratoga? If we don’t plant the next generation of trees for the next generation of Saratogians, our kids and grandkids will not have the joys and benefits of a robust urban forest. It is that simple – If we don’t plant, who will? Let’s come together and leave a legacy of trees for the next generation.
Our biggest need? Good residential planting sites. Can you host a tree? Can you work with your friends and neighbors to help us find some places to plant trees? Why not make it a collaborative project on your block? Or make it competitive: challenge your friends across town and see whose street can host the most trees. Sign up to get a tree for Tree Toga 10! Request a street tree from the City’s Department of Public Works. Buy a tree from a local nursery and plant your tree anywhere you would like in your yard! Click here to learn more about these planting options.
Where do we plant? GREATER FLEXIBILITY! Sustainable Saratoga can now plant a large-growing shade tree directly in your front yard. We are no longer limited to planting in the city-owned tree lawn between the sidewalk and the curb, although street trees do remain our first-choice location. If you live in the City, request a #NextGenTree and we will work with you to find the best location where your free tree will thrive.
What do we plant? Sustainable Saratoga prioritizes large-growing species of trees, since large shade trees provide far greater environmental and economic benefits than small ornamental ones. Some of the diverse species our volunteers have planted include: hackberry, Kentucky yellowwood, gingko, basswood, black tupelo, disease-resistant American elm, honeylocust, tulip, and various types of oak trees. Our planting choices help the City to achieve two goals from its 2013 Urban Forest Master Plan: using a ‘large tree vision’ that will re-create streetscapes in the grand, historic Saratoga tradition and planting a diverse urban forest that will be resilient to pests. Click here for a list of native species that we recommend planting in this area.
Email trees@sustainblesaratoga.org to learn more
Read about some of our more recent Tree Toga events:
Centennial Trees is our multi-year effort (2015-2020) through which Sustainable Saratoga is mobilizing a broad web of public-private partnerships to accomplish two primary goals:
- to regain a “large tree vision” for Saratoga’s urban forest, meaning that large-growing trees are at the core of our planting vision; and
- to plant a substantial and impactful cohort of large-growing trees in prominent, transformative locations around town, leaving a Centennial legacy for the kids and the grandkids
This Centennial Tree was planted in the spring of 2018.
Tree Toga 8 volunteer planting crew (Photo credit: Tim Greer, Camera Famosa Photography)
Tree Toga 6 planting volunteers (Photo credit: David Aimone)
Local Girl Scouts have some fun while giving back to their community.
