neighborhood tree planting projects
free 5-gallon street trees for neighborhood parkways

No neighborhood trees...	Neighborhood trees...
The Neighborhood Tree Planting Program can help your neighborhood transform from a treeless, hot place to a shady haven.  Start the journey here...

Why plant a street tree?

Trees provide many benefits in our urban areas.  Not only do they provide aesthetic benefits, more importantly, trees provide crucial infrastructure services.  They absorb carbon dioxide & provide oxygen.  This helps the city meet Clean Air standards & lessens the impact of ozone & air pollution from cars, lawnmowers, industry & our basic home & office energy consumption.  Trees also slow run-off because their roots cover a large area & absorb water.  They reduce erosion by breaking the velocity of raindrops before they reach the ground.  Trees reduce the urban heat island & help lower our electricity bills!  Street trees play a very important role in reducing the urban heat island because they shade our streets, which can reduce the temperature on the pavement by up to 10 degrees!  Additionally, trees provide homes for our urban wildlife; they are one component of habitat structure for wildlife, which ranges from our soil, grasses, flowers, shrubs & vines.  Studies have shown that trees reduce crime & they also stimulate local economies - would you rather spend your money at a shopping center with trees & landscaping or in a shopping center that is hot & treeless?

The Neighborhood Tree Planting Program (NTPP) is for City of Fort Worth neighborhoods that sign up at least 25 to 75 neighbors.  Sign up now to secure your neighborhood's place in line!

neighborhoods in waiting

Follow this link to find if your neighborhood is on the waiting list.

If you would like to become the NTPP coordinator for your neighborhood, please contact the Forester at 817/871-5729 to obtain a sign-up list.

how does my neighborhood get involved?

• Contact the Forester at 817.871.5729 to request an information packet and sign-up sheet.

• A Neighborhood Project Coordinator must be designated from within the neighborhood to make communications between the neighborhood and the Forester easier.  The Coordinator will act as the liaison between the neighborhood participants and the Forester.  If neighborhood participants have questions, they should contact the Coordinator, not the Forester.

• A commitment of at least 25 citizens must agree to plant trees on their PARKWAY (the area between the sidewalk and the curb) and promise to care for the trees after planting.   Once all participants are signed up, the Neighborhood Project Coordinator will submit the list of names and addresses to the Forester.

• Each address may get a maximum of two trees, however lots with smaller parkways may only get one tree.  Participants select up to 2 preferred trees.  Unfortunately, due to the flux in tree inventory at our tree farm, we cannot guarantee specific tree species.  However, we will try to accommodate all requests as much as possible.

• Maximum number of  addresses allowed to sign up for a single tree planting project is 75.  If you have more than 75 interested participants, a new list will need to be submitted at a later date.  Limiting the number of participants within a given neighborhood allows other neighborhoods to be served in the same tree-planting season.

• The City cannot plant the trees, so it is the neighborhood’s responsibility to find volunteers if needed. 

• Several weeks before your neighborhood's planting date, you may wish to contact 1-800-DIG-TESS to have underground utilities identified and marked in the parkways.

• A maximum of two trees may be given per household.

• A waiting list is in effect and tree planting projects are on a first-come first-serve basis.

• The tree planting season occurs from October – March of every year.

order of events once on the list

• Once the Forester is contacted and the list of people interested in planting trees in their parkway is sent, your group will be put on the list for a future tree planting project.

• When your groups nears the top of the list, the Forester will contact the Neighborhood Project Coordinator and set a delivery/event date.  Then the Forester will survey the addresses from the list and determine the best area for trees to be planted in the parkway.  The Forester will mark the locations with an orange dot and a green pin flag.

• The Forester and Neighborhood Project Coordinator arrange a date, time and location for delivery of the trees.  The trees will be delivered the Friday of/before the planting date and it is the Coordinator’s responsibility to make arrangements for the homeowners to pick up their trees.

the day of the event

• The Forester will be present during the Friday delivery to answer questions, provide brochures, and demonstrate how to properly plant trees.  The Forester is available to assist at Saturday events.  The Forester schedules the time slot with the Coordinator.

• THE TREES ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH.  THEY MUST BE PLANTED IN THE PARKWAY, WHICH IS CITY PROPERTY.

• Please plant the trees within one week of receiving them.

• After planting the trees, please collect all the containers and pin flags and return them to the Neighborhood Project Coordinator.  The Coordinator will then contact the Forester to arrange pick-up.  (The City of Fort Worth reuses the containers and pin flags.)

• Lastly, after planting the trees, water them once a week for the next two years, or until the trees are fully established.

The trees provided for the Neighborhood Tree Planting Program are grown at the Rolling Hills Tree Farm, which is owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth.

what trees are available?

Several species of trees are available for your neighborhood project. Learn more about the trees you can select for your tree-planting event.

View "Native & Adapted Trees for Fort Worth & Tarrant County" booklet (English version).  For Spanish version, click here.

Neighborhood Tree Planting Program FAQs

For questions, please call Michelle Villafranca at 817.871.5729.