In celebration of City of Forest Day 2025, join Trees New York for a Tree Stewardship Event in Bushwick!

Learn how to care for your neighborhood street trees. Join Trees New York's environmental educators while we steward street trees. Volunteer tree stewardship activities include removing litter and weeds from the tree beds, cultivating the soil, mulching, watering, and planting bulbs.

• Tree bed clean up and soil cultivation: In addition to being unsightly, compacted soil and litter block the movement of oxygen, water and nutrients to tree roots. Volunteers remove litter and weeds from tree beds and loosen up the surface soil with hand cultivators.
• Watering Trees: New York City street trees live in permanent drought conditions. All trees, especially newly planted trees, need thorough and deep watering during the spring and summer. Volunteers water trees using buckets and hoses.
• Mulching: Mulch conserves water, moderates soil temperatures, improves soil structure and mitigates damage from dogs, people, de-icing salts and cleaning agents. Volunteers mulch trees with mulch or woodchips.
• Tree Bed Gardening: Flowers beautify the streetscape, add enriching organic matter to the soil and help deter people from walking on tree beds. We will plant bulbs such as muscari, tulips, crocus, and daffodil.