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TOMORROW! Join us for the Palo Alto Young Tree Care Survey
July 16, 9am - 12pm - Meet at Gamble Garden Lawn Bowling Green, corner of Cowper St. and Churchill Ave in Palo Alto
We're making great progress on the Young Tree Care Survey! But there are still more trees to visit. In this training and survey session, you'll learn how the survey works and complete one survey route.
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Tree Care and Pruning Service Day
Saturday, July 30, 9am - 12pm
Costa�o Elementary School, 2695 Fordham St, East Palo Alto
Help care for young school trees! Trained Canopy pruning volunteers are especially encouraged to join, and will prune Southern Live Oak, Silver Linden, Multi-stem Crape Myrtles. Other volunteers will weed, mulch, and adjust tree stakes.
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Tree Walk: "Edible Urban Forest"
Saturday, August 13, 10am - 12pm
Begins at Johnson Park in Palo Alto Join Canopy, expert arborist Herb Fong, and Slow Food South Bay Chapter President and local personal chef Joni Sare for a special tree walk from Johnson Park to Gamble Garden. We'll explore a great variety of trees, and learn about fruit and other edible parts that trees provide. This is a one-way tree walk. The Canopy van will be available to shuttle 7 people at a time the 1-mile walk back to the starting point. Full details on Canopy's calendar.
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Registration now open!
Sign up for annual workshops: |
3 consecutive Wednesdays August 17, 24, and 31 Canopy's K-12 tree-centric education programs provide hands-on, outdoor activities that spark kids' curiosity about trees and nature. This free three-part interactive training will prepare you to work as a volunteer Education Leader with Canopy, exploring the wonderful world of trees with elementary and middle school students. |
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Part 1: September 20 or 22 Part 2: September 24 This free two-part workshop is for adults and teens who want to help lead volunteer teams at community tree plantings. You'll learn basic tree biology, proper tree planting technique, best practices in young tree care, volunteer engagement strategies, and more. You'll also join an amazing team of volunteer leaders who help Canopy grow greener, healthier communities! |
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Don't forget to water your trees!
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Save water and save trees
Even in California's dry climate, urban trees are well worth the water!
Most trees don't need much water to thrive, yet the health and climate-related benefits they provide are essential to healthy, sustainable communities.
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Highlights from the Field
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High school students explore health benefits of trees
During the summer, many Gunn High School and Palo Alto High School students take a required course called "Living Skills."
This summer, Canopy offered 8 Living Skills classes (over 250 students) the chance to get outside and learn how trees and nature contribute to healthy, happy living.
As they explored the diverse tree species in Palo Alto's Mitchell Park -- including Valley Oaks, London Plane Trees, Italian Stone Pines, and many more -- the students also learned about the health benefits of a walk through a tree-filled park: things like stress reduction, mood improvement, and refreshed attention. |
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Spanish-language tree walk in East Palo Alto
On Saturday, June 18th, 12 adults and 13 kids from the group Family Connections gathered for a Caminada de Arboles in East Palo Alto.
Oscar Aviles, General Foreman for Utility Tree Service, led the Spanish-language walk, teaching attendees about tree species and the benefits that trees provide. The route started at Brentwood Elementary School, where Canopy and partners planted 110 trees in 2012.
A few tree highlights included the Silk Tree ("mimosa" in Spanish) on the corner of Clarke Ave and Myrtle Street; a walnut tree (nogal) on Dines Court; the large Deodar Cedar (cedro deodara) on Clarke Ave; and several large Coast Live oaks (encino), and redwoods (secoya) on Green Street.
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Native trees and bayland vegetation planned for revamp of Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course
As the Palo Alto Weekly reports, "The project includes modifications to all 18 holes; restored wetlands areas; a shift away from irrigated turf and toward natural Baylands landscaping; [and] expanded recreation areas[...]."
The project will expand marshland habitat around San Francisquito Creek, providing greater flood protection, and incorporate more native Bayland vegetation.
The plan also includes the removal of about 650 non-native trees, which will be replaced with 300 native trees, and supplemented with additional mitigation off-site.
When the time comes, Canopy will work with the City to involve community members in planting and mitigation plans. Stay tuned!
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City of Palo Alto approves shorter pruning cycles - and healthier trees!
On June 28th, the Palo Alto City Council voted to maintain the city's 7-year pruning cycle, rather than switch to proposed 10-year or 15-year pruning cycles.
The pruning cycle determines how often city trees are pruned, and it's important for several reasons. Firstly, trees that are regularly inspected and pruned are safer, with less risk of limb-drop or interference with infrastructure. Secondly, when trees are pruned more often, they don't need to be pruned as aggressively. Removing less of the canopy results in fuller, healthier trees.
Former Palo Alto mayor Karen Holman and Canopy advocated strongly for the city to maintain its 7-year pruning cycle, and we applaud the Council's decision. We will also continue advocating for a more dynamic approach to city pruning, especially for young trees.
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Check out: Living School Year Activity Guide 2016
Looking for a way to engage your students or youngsters outdoors this summer? Look no further than Green Schoolyards America, and their recently released Living Schoolyard Activity Guide 2016. This resource offers 147 hands-on activities to get kids outside, including Canopy's Sense-sational Tree Tour.
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| Canopy bids a fond farewell to Tree Care and Education Manager Natalia Schoorl |
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During her time at Canopy, Natalia has grown our classroom education lessons, Teen Urban Forester program, and tree care efforts into the nationally recognized and self-sustaining programs they are today. She had an incredible impact and will be deeply missed!
While we are sad to see her go, we are happy for her and excited to follow her next adventure. Here are a few parting words from our fantastic teammate:
Thank you, Canopy friends!
After four exciting and transformative years at Canopy, I will be moving on to a new position at the Peery Foundation. In my time at Canopy, I helped plant and care for over 1,000 trees, and cared for many more.
It's amazing to watch a plant that you care for grow (and the trees are growing beautifully), but what stands out to me the most are the people I've met along the way.
What I'll take with me
After 47 tree plantings, 295 tree care days, and 134 youth education events, this is what I'll carry with me:
- The excitement of 2nd graders as they observe an acorn or pine cone up-close for the first time and ask "Is it real?";
- The pride of the Willow Oaks Junior Foresters as they carefully water the oak tree that they named Spike;
- The generosity of a family who gave me a bag of lemons and kumquats after we planted a tree together in front of their house;
- The resolve of volunteers working together to make mountainous piles of mulch disappear;
- And the dedication of generous individuals who spend their free time planting, teaching about, and advocating for trees.
This awe of exploration and discovery, commitment to service, and desire to strengthen our sense of community is what I will take to my new role as Program Assistant at the Peery Foundation, where I'll continue serving youth and families in the Bay Area and beyond.
Thank you to everyone who helps plant and care for the trees, and to all those who support this important work and advocate for more greenery in our cities.
Let's keep planting together!
To me, planting trees together will always represent the best in humanity.
As Kahlil Gibran wrote, "Work is love made visible," and planting trees is our work done with love, our hope for the future set in motion by the actions we take today.
Best wishes,
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| Canopy welcomes Elise Willis |
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Last year, Elise worked at Canopy part-time to study the canopy cover disparity between north and south Palo Alto. Now, we are thrilled to welcome her as a full-time member of the team. Here's a quick update from Elise about her exciting new role:
More oaks, more south Palo Alto tree plantings
I'll be working on two exciting projects: (1) developing programs to invigorate re-oaking efforts throughout Palo Alto, and (2) a brand new tree planting campaign to increase canopy cover in south Palo Alto.
We plan to update the Oakwell Survey, first undertaken in 1997, to assess the changes in the population of native oaks in Palo Alto over the last 20 years. I'll also build on my research from last year, implementing new solutions to increase the tree canopy in south Palo Alto.
Well-versed in Palo Alto trees
Before joining Canopy, I worked part-time for the City of Palo Alto, checking building permit plans for the City's Public Works Urban Forestry team, and ensuring that regulated trees are properly protected during site development.
I am very familiar with Palo Alto's Tree Ordinance, Tree Technical Manual, and general city processes as I regularly provided information to residents and realtors at the public counter in the Palo Alto Development Center.
Look forward to meeting you all!
I'm excited to get outside to plant and care for trees with community members, starting with pilot neighborhoods in south Palo Alto!
See you soon,
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| Help us find our next Education Manager! |
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While we are sad to say goodbye to Natalia, we are excited to find a new teammate who shares her passion for education, and who is ready to dive in with our growing youth education programs. The Education Manager will also oversee Canopy's diverse adult education programs, including Tree Walks and workshops.
If you love to teach about nature and have a background in science education, we hope you'll apply! And if you know anyone who might be interested, please share this opportunity.
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California urban trees offer more than $1 billion in benefits
A recent study by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station found California's street trees provide over $1 billion in benefits to the state. Using i-Tree, an online analysis tool, scientists plotted street trees across the state and used the information gathered to calculate the value of services provided by trees, including carbon storage ($10.32 million), air pollutant filtering ($18.15 million), energy savings ($101.15 million), and boosted property values ($838.94 million). Lead researcher Greg McPherson explained that "for every $1 spent on planting or maintaining a street tree, that tree returns, on average, $5.82 in benefits."
The research data will continue to help scientists better understand how resources can be allocated across the state, and whether to increase tree planting in areas with low tree canopy density.
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Special thanks to recent Grantors:
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Canopy plants and cares for trees where people need them the most. We bring the life-giving benefits of trees to the schools, neighborhoods, and public spaces of the San Francisco Mid-Peninsula.
Canopy is proud to be affiliated with:
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Canopy - 3921 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto - 650.964.6110 Canopy.org |
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