TreePeople Volunteers Don't Grow on Trees

I just realized that trees don’t grow on trees. 

At least not in Los Angeles, anyway.

It shouldn’t be a revelation that the trees we see around us in an urban environment are deliberately planted and cared for. But, for me, it's a revelation.

Born in the San Fernando Valley and raised in South Orange County, I’d simply never thought that much about the trees that surrounded my city/suburban upbringing. Even after I moved to the big city, it didn’t dawn on me to think about all the trees that line our sidewalks and roadways and green our parks and schools in Los Angeles.

Until recently.

I was researching upcoming community events in Studio City when I found out that local non-profit  will be bringing a Street Tree Care event (free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday)— just in time for Earth Day.

Street Tree Care events are a well-established part of TreePeople’s Functioning Community Forest project, which, per TreePeople’s Keith McAleer, aspires to directly involve the residents of Los Angeles in improving their green-to-gray ratio. They work completely with volunteers to plant and care for trees in neighborhoods all over Los Angeles.

The Street Tree Care event provides an opportunity for residents of a local community where new trees have recently been planted to learn to care for those young trees and help them thrive. It is among the organization’s myriad of planting and tree-care events that have taken place on a regular basis throughout Los Angeles for the last 30 years.

Located in the hills above Studio City, TreePeople has been active in Los Angeles as a non-profit organization that has been responsible for bringing millions (yes, millions) of trees to the neighborhoods we live in. My enlightening conversation with McAleer marked the moment I started thinking about trees.

When I finally realized the magnitude (in the millions!) of TreePeople’s influence on Los Angeles, I tried to comprehend how many of my own neighbors must have participated in planting and caring for the trees throughout the years in my community. Admittedly, at first, most of the appreciation I felt for the trees I see every day had to do with aesthetics—those trees make my neighborhood pretty. 

I had yet to have my full-tree-appreciation epiphany.

Then I went to New York for the weekend.

After a packed subway ride from lively SoHo to the imposing Upper East Side, a stroll down manicured Madison Avenue, and a boisterous encounter with the Greek Parade, I crossed the street into Central Park.  There, in the flourishing green oasis smack dab in the middle of the hustle and bustle, I suddenly and fully grasped the power of trees.

It was a wonderful feeling—as if the city was falling away as my blood pressure dropped from thundering to somewhere just below normal. 

As my internal rhythm slowed, a feeling of calm washed over me.What I hadn’t realized until that moment in the park was that my fast-paced weekend on the island of Manhattan had worked me into a veritable lather.

So much so, that when I stepped into the park and started walking down the winding paths hand in hand with my husband, I experienced an unanticipated wave of lightness and glee wash over me as all those lathered up suds started to disappear and I found myself in the clear, cool waters of calm.

Insulated by so much green, the frenzy of the gray city couldn’t touch me.

And all of this because of trees.

In that moment, the fact that TreePeople had spent 30 years bringing the big green things to my hometown of Los Angeles actually started to mean something to me. 

Beyond the aesthetics and even the scientific facts about how positive big trees are for our environment, I began to have a personally profound and deeply abiding appreciation for trees and the people who plant and care for them. Turns out, my appreciation was due, because the dry and desert-like climate of Los Angeles is, as McAleer points out, “a harsh environment for trees.” 

But, while investing in planting young trees and nurturing them to grow and thrive in Los Angeles is hard work, having so many trees in our environment is extremely rewarding.

“Trees are a long-term investment and add real value in dollars and cents to a community. In fact the larger the tree, the greater the benefits,” reads the TreePeople website.

And the benefits of trees aren’t imagined or hyperbolized; they are tangible and measurable.

For one, seeing trees around us and having access to green space has been proven to lower stress levels and consequently improve happiness (which explains why I felt relaxed, then elated on my stroll through Central Park).

Further, healthy, flourishing trees reduce pollution, lower the temperature, reduce water waste and raise property values.  All attributes that are especially valuable here in Los Angeles.

All of this means that greening our cities is a really good thing; good for our environment, good for our pocketbooks and good for our psyches.

As volunteer Citizen Foresters in TreePeople’s Functioning Community Forest project, Studio City residents Lois Keller and Davenie Faber already grasp the very real value of trees and have long been activists for greening the valley.

In fact, over the past few years you might have noticed as new trees started appearing along Valleyheart as it hugs the Los Angeles River, at, in Colfax Meadows and even down Ventura Boulevard as you drive West into Sherman Oaks.  These trees were all brought to the Valley by your neighbors working hand-in-hand with TreePeople Citizen Foresters like Keller and Faber along with local volunteers like you.

On Sunday, along with TreePeople’s Street Tree Care Supervisor Marcos Trinidad, Keller and Faber will provide an opportunity for you to become one of the Studio City residents who participates in the greening of Studio City at the Street Tree Care event.

The hands-on event planned for the morning of April 10 will include mulching, pruning and re-staking of the newest trees that TreePeople has planted in Studio City as well as an education on how to become an activist for bringing trees into your own neighborhood, perhaps even inspiring you to become a TreePeople Citizen Forester like Keller and Farber.  The event also educates volunteers on how to choose the right trees for their specific environment and how to properly care for trees in their own backyards– all of which helps trees make the biggest impact on our environment.

The Street Tree Care event is an opportunity not only to spend meaningful time with your neighbors bettering your own community, but also to plant your roots in the city you call home while caring for the young trees that have recently done the same.

When you play an active role in greening your city, you'll soon notice your stress levels will drop and your happiness will rise as you spend more of your time in Studio City looking at the big, beautiful trees you’ve cared for, knowing that every moment they’re there, they’re doing good for you, your community and your environment.

The event is open to the public, but pre-registration is required and encouraged early.