Contents

1.      Updated Forest Friends Website!

2.      Cambridge’s Urban Forest Master Plan – 5-Year Update Underway!

3.      Get a Tree and Learn about Green Cambridge’s Canopy Crew

4.      Danehy Park’s Miyawaki Forest Update

5.      Species Highlight: Ginkgo biloba

6.      Forest Foe: Spotted Lanternfly

7.      Upcoming Event: UFMP 5-Year Update – First Public Meeting 11/20

8.      Stumped! Urban Forestry Treevia

9.      Become a Cambridge Urban Forest Friend 

10.  Sign Up for a Free Tree with Green Cambridge  

Get a Tree Planted on your Property!

The City of Cambridge's Department of Public Works (DPW) and the non-profit Green Cambridge invite you to be a crucial partner in growing our city's tree canopy. You can receive a tree to be planted on your property in Spring 2026 by the Canopy Crew!

What is Canopy Crew?

Canopy Crew is Green Cambridge’s 8-month paid urban forestry internship for Cambridge high school students. On Saturdays during the fall and spring, the crew goes out to properties across Cambridge and plants trees! Your yard could be one of these properties…

Why Your Yard Matters

Did you know that approximately 80% of Cambridge’s tree canopy is on private residential land? That's why your participation is essential!

This fall, Canopy Crew is planting 50 trees on private properties across Cambridge. Join the 150 residents who have already received a tree on their property and sign up to receive a tree in Spring 2026.

How to Get Your Tree

Whether you live in an apartment, condo, or house, if you have space on your grounds, you qualify!

The tree is planted and provided at no cost. To sustain this vital youth employment and tree planting program, we rely on community support: we ask for a voluntary, sliding-scale donation.

The process is simple:

1. Request: Fill out the Tree Recipient Interest Form online at greencambridge.org/canopycrew. You will also find the list of trees we offer at this link.
2. Site Visit: Crew staff will contact you in February to visit your property and finalize your site and tree selection.
3. Plant: The Crew will plant the tree on a Saturday in the spring—all we ask is that you commit to watering and caring for it afterward!

“This organization is fantastic. The staff coordination and student planting made this project very enjoyable to be a part of. Many residents of this building have expressed their appreciation for all the efforts and look forward to a new landscape next year and beyond.” - Anne Jeka, JFK Apartments.

Teens: Join the Crew



“There’s such a strong community around it, and we are doing really important work. Before Canopy Crew, I didn’t think I would be interested in it, but then I did it, and I was like, ‘this is awesome.’” - Dante Randall, 2nd year Canopy Crew member, senior at CRLS.

Do you know a high schooler interested in a paid internship opportunity to plant trees, and develop hands-on and professional development skills in the environmental field? Applications for the Fall 2026 term opens on August 15th, 2026, and can be found at greencambridge.org/canopycrew.

2025 Canopy Crew

Planted in September 2021, Danehy Park is home to Cambridge’s first Miyawaki Forest.

Recently, 15 sumac trees were removed from the forest, chipped, and the chips were spread in the forest. 20 mid-canopy trees were planted to fill in the gaps left by the sumac removal.

The forest was initially overplanted with sumac, and drought conditions allowed the sumac to thrive and outcompete other trees in the forest. To ensure proper forest succession and the establishment of climax shade trees, the sumacs needed to be removed.

This work had been postponed for several growing seasons in hopes that climax species would establish themselves on the forest floor, but through investigation, no seedlings had established themselves.



As the first Miyawaki Forest in the Northeast, there has been a learning curve; these lessons have been applied to the two subsequent forests installed in the City at Greene-Rose Heritage Park and the Peabody School. 

Forest Foe: Spotted Lanternfly (SLF)

You may recall that SLF was our Forest Foe for September 2025, so why are we featuring it again? Unfortunately, Cambridge was recently added to the list of many Massachusetts municipalities with confirmed SLF infestations. SLF is an invasive insect pest that has the potential to harm the agricultural industry and make it unpleasant to be outside in residential areas with large infestations. Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) closely monitors SLF and many other pests. They request that residents report any sightings of SLF. You can report sightings here: https://massnrc.org/pests/slfreport.aspx

More information on SLF is available from MDAR: https://www.mass.gov/spotted-lanternfly

This time of year, the adults and egg masses are visible. 

Upcoming Event: UFMP 5-Year Update – First Public Meeting 11/20

Stumped! Urban Forestry Treevia

Learn a fun fact about urban forestry in Cambridge! 

The trivia answer will be revealed in next month’s newsletter! 

Last month's question was " Which one of these leaves is not like the other? All these leaves are from a species of maple except one!?” and the answer was "E". A is a Red maple, B is a Silver maple, C is a Norway maple, D is a Sugar maple, E is an American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), and F is a Sycamore maple. Did you get it right? 

Questions?

For questions about the Cambridge Urban Forest Friends, please contact Kristen Kelleher, Community Relations Manager at 617-349-4825 / kkelleher@cambridgema.gov.

**Please let us know if you are no longer caring for your street tree and we will remove you from the database and future emails.**

Thanks for reading! 

If you enjoy the Cambridge Urban Forest Friends newsletter, you can spread the word about it with this sign-up link. With more sign-ups, more Cambridge residents can learn about how to best support our environment and communities.