Biggest neighborhood planting to date tomorrow

We’re thrilled that Amy Ruppel, the nationally-known, local artist behind our fanciful Plant It Portland! campaign, will join us tomorrow at our biggest neighborhood planting to date.

Thanks to Friends of Trees volunteers, homeowners, and the nonprofit Verde, five North Portland neighborhoods will have 527 new trees soon. Through the Cathedral Park, St. Johns, and University Park planting alone, which is sponsored by The Oregonian, homeowners will receive 360 trees—more trees than Friends of Trees has planted at a neighborhood event in its 21-year history. The remaining 167 trees will be planted at a separate planting the same day in the Kenton and Portsmouth neighborhoods.

The February 19 plantings are part of Friends of Trees’ Plant It Portland! campaign, which was launched last fall in partnership with the City of Portland through its Grey to Green Initiative. The campaign is the most ambitious street tree planting campaign in Portland to date and aims to plant 16,000 street trees in Portland neighborhoods.

The campaign includes popular and colorful yard signs, tree tags, posters, cross-street banners and window art featuring the playful work of local artist Amy Ruppel. Volunteers who join our Cathedral Park, St. Johns, and University Park planting tomorrow can ask Amy to sign a Plant It Portland! poster for them.

Trees dampen city noise, increase home values, reduce heating and cooling costs, and absorb rainwater to reduce stormwater management costs and pollution in our rivers. A new Portland-based U.S. Forest Service study shows that neighborhoods with street trees have lower crime rates.

Friends of Trees makes getting a tree easy and affordable. For $35 to $75, the organization provides a permit, a tree approved by the city for that particular planting strip, delivery, hole digging, planting assistance, stakes and follow-up maintenance. There’s still time in many neighborhoods to order a tree to plant at your home this spring.

Another fun volunteer opportunity tomorrow is our Green Space Initiative planting at Happy Valley Park, held in partnership with the City of Happy Valley and sponsored by the Oregon Soap Company and Portland General Electric.

Since the current planting season began in October 2010, Friends of Trees has planted 16,120 trees and native plants. Of these, 2,365 are street and yard trees. Many thanks to all of our community supporters and volunteers!

–TR