The work of Tree Trust to "speak for the trees" will continue as we raise awareness about EAB, advocate to homeowners to explore solutions, and help communities plant more trees through our Green Futures fund. In the past few years, the Green Futures fund has provided for plantings in 16 metro communities, most recently including Prior Lake, Bloomington, St. Paul, Apple Valley, and Shakopee. Due to the onset of EAB, our Green Futures program now has a waiting list for communities that are seeking Tree Trust's help to plant more trees to restore and diversify their tree canopy.

So if you are someone who cares a whole awful lot, we invite you to make a contribution to the Tree Trust Green Futures Fund today. You can donate online or by mail.

Your contribution will be matched by another someone who cares a whole awful lot,
and cumulatively will help support Green Futures tree plantings in communities around the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.

THANK YOU for caring - and THANK YOU for acting!

Donate Here

This year, Tree Trust has or wil l be planting 1,600 trees in parks and open spaces throughout Minnesota. These plantings are at the request of cities that wish to mitigate the negative effects of losing trees to emerald ash borer - requests that have been on the rise for the last year.

 

Tree Trust is happy to work with cities to plant trees, and can do so thanks to our Green Futures fund and currently due to a LCCMR grant on which we are a partner. However, there are significant costs involved for trees, mulch, and staff time to coordinate and implement dozens of planting events each year. As we've received an increased number of requests from communities seeking to plant more trees, we've looked at ways to minimize expenses so we can help as many communities as possible.

 

To that end, we began work last fall to construct a  gravel bed nursery  to mature our own bareroot trees. The nursery represents the first time in 11 years that Tree Trust has tended our own tree stock. Bareroot stock is on average 1/4 the price of balled and burlapped, and 1/2 the price of containerized trees, creating an effective cost savings! Trees matured in a gravel bed also have a higher survivability rate due to development of a more robust root system. 

 

Our first gravel bed "crop" of 350 trees will be "harvested" this fall and used for plantings in September and October as a less expensive and hearty alternative to the containerized tree stock we've typically used. In future years, our gravel bed nursery will continue to provide hundreds of trees for planting in communities throughout Minnesota. Over time, using gravel bed stock will continue to reduce costs, improve survivability, and increase the number of trees we add to the environment.

 

You can see photos of the whole process of building our gravel bed nursery in our  Facebook album!

Each year, a symbolic Super Bowl "golden shovel" is passed from the past Super Bowl host community to the next. Last month, Tree Trust was honored to join forces with the National Football League, Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee (MSBHC), and Verizon for a community tree planting to celebrate this iconic moment.

After the ceremonial passing of the shovel, Tree Trust facilitated the planting of 14 trees at Currie Park in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis with the help of youth from the Pillsbury United Communities Brian Coyle Center, Vikings players and cheerleaders, and representatives from the partner organizations. Trees were planted to provide a visual and sound barrier between the nearby train and busy street and the park itself, which boasts a large playground and a very popular soccer field. The youth who helped plant trees frequent the park regularly, and will be able to watch the trees they planted grow and provide benefits for years to come!

 

Current Openings: 

Landscape Construction Technician