Urban Forestry Division has Banner Season for Street Tree Planting

A total of 1,200 new trees were planted along Boston’s streets this spring!

Hot summer temperatures are here in full force, but it was wasn’t long ago that the cool, wet spring weather was drawing everyone outdoors to get new plants into the ground. The Urban Forestry Division took part in that surge, since the spring season is an excellent time to plant new trees! The generally cooler temperatures and rain of the spring season help young trees to get established in their new ‘homes.’ This spring, 1,200 new street trees were planted across the City. Many of the trees were situated in the priority zones that were identify in the Urban Forest Plan to help combat the urban heat island effect. You can see all of the locations on our street tree inventory by using the quick filter called, “Trees Planted Spring 2024.” The Division is proud of our achievement this spring as we continue to build capacity not only in the program to plant new trees, but also the work of maintaining and preserving existing trees.

In addition to the street trees, the Division added some new trees to two City cemeteries in addition to working with various community groups to complete small scale plantings in their local parks. These community plantings included Copp's Hill Terrace, Noyes Park, and Harambee Park.

The crew is already in the process of finding locations to plant more trees this fall. Look here to learn about getting a new street tree planted in front of your home!

It seems that the cooler temperatures of spring are behind us - and now the task is to keep these trees thriving throughout the hot summer months. The City’s contractor provides a limited amount of water for the new trees, but we also look for adjacent residents to pitch in to help steward our urban forest. The Division has prepared some guidelines for caring for newly planted trees which can be found here. In these hot days, the City’s trees appreciate water as much as you do. Consider giving trees near you a generous drink of water, and you will be rewarded with shade and beauty for years to come!

A tree crew works to plant a tree on a Boston street with a full truck bed to the right.

A group of volunteers, some wearing purple shirts, planting a bare root tree.

Two arborists hard at work planting a bare-root tree in a cemetery.

A trio of people say cheese behind a newly planted tree at Copp's Hill Terrace.