Tennessee Tree Project - Planting One Million Native Trees in Tennessee



TREE FACT:  Studies indicate communities with more trees have less crime1

TREE FACT:  Planting 30 trees each year offsets greenhouse gases from your car and home2

TREE FACT:  In 50 years one tree provides $130,750 in total benefits including oxygen, air pollution control and storm water drainage3

TREE FACT:  The U.S. Forest Service found that more than two million acres of Tennessee’s native forests were cut and more than 500 thousand acres of forest were converted to other uses.

 
Thank you for visiting the Tennessee Tree Project page.  Tennessee Environmental Council has a goal of planting 1 million native trees in Tennessee by 2020.  If you have just received or just planted a tree, please scroll down to the section “I have just received or just planted a tree”.  If you are with a group that is interested in hosting a tree planting or tree giveaway event, please scroll down to “ My organization would like to host a TN Tree Project Event”


I HAVE JUST RECEIVED OR JUST PLANTED A TREE  
Congratulations!  If you have just received or planted a tree, you probably have a lot of questions about your tree including when & how to plant and/or care for it.  We have a few resources here for you, and we encourage you to check back as we update this site with more information.  Please register your tree by clicking the link at the top of this page.  When you register, you will be joining our email list and will receive updates and additional information about your tree.  You can always opt out, but registering helps us track where the trees are going and will help us advance this program. 

Tulip Poplar Quick Facts:  Tennessee State Tree.  Grows up to 120 feet at maturity. Growth rate is rapid (good source of shade). Does best with moist, loose texture, well-drained soil.  For more information click here.

Shumard Oak Quick Facts:  Grows up to 110 feet at maturity. Growth rate is moderate to slow.  Drought tolerant.  For more information click here.

Virginia Pine Quick Facts:  Grows up to 70 feet. Grows rapidly.  Highly drought tolerant.  For more information click here.

More information:   
~ Planting and care of Tulip Poplar, Shumard Oak & Virginia Pine seedlings click here. 
~ HOW & WHERE to plant your tree:  Visit the Tree Help Guide for step-by-step planting instructions.
~ WHEN to plant your tree:  The best time of year to plant is FALL and EARLY SPRING.  If you are planting in the late Spring or Summer, we recommend planting in a pot where you can tend it, and plant in the ground this Fall.
~ We also have more information under the heading “Tree Resources" below.  

Take good care of your tree and it will surely take good care of you.  And if you would like to help others, read on to find out how you can host a tree event in your community.  














Volunteers plant trees in Spring Hill (left) and members of Bellevue Community Church plant trees at the Habitat for Humanity Timberwoods Community (right).


MY ORGANIZATION WOULD LIKE TO HOST A TN TREE PROJECT EVENT
Tree planting projects are among the most popular programs we offer at the Tennessee Environmental Council, and they bring terrific publicity and community relations opportunities for our partners.  For instance The Tennessean  featured a recent Council-sponsored effort in Murfreesboro, which helped replace trees in the tornado stricken community. 

Trees provide thousands of dollars of benefits each year including oxygen, reducing air pollution, improving water drainage, and increasing property values. The benefits are countless, and our goal is to plant one million trees in the next ten years. We do this by partnering with businesses, churches, schools and other organizations such as yours to host tree events in the community. Here is how we might partner with you on this project:

• Host a tree planting event at your location or in the community. Trees can provide valuable and cost saving improvements to your grounds including providing shade, cutting heating/cooling costs, helping with water drainage, and adding beauty.  You might also wish to partner with a park, an organization like Habitat for Humanity, or other organization to plant trees at their location.  You may also know of an environmentally threatened area that can benefit from a tree planting event. 
 
• You could also host a tree giveaway for your organization or in the community. Your group would give trees away for participants to plant at home, and you could collect donations for the Council and possibly your non-profit organization as well

• Many organizations elect to host both a tree planting and tree giveaway event!

This program can be tailored to match your needs and goals. You could schedule a special Tree Planting/Giveaway Event any time from January - April (for instance during Earth Month or Arbor Day) or you may also wish to offer this in conjunction with another event your organization has scheduled.  If you would like to schedule the event during the Fall we have limited inventory of larger saplings available.   

The program offers a great fundraising opportunity for nonprofit organizations or if you partner with one on this project.  We ask for a small donation of $3 per seedling (or five trees for the price of three) to help us keep this program running, and non-profits may keep 1/3 of the tree donations.  In other words if you bring in $3 per tree, your organization will keep $1

Please see "Resources for Tree Planting Events" below for additional information and logistics.  If your organization would like to partner with Tennessee Tree Project on a tree planting project, please click here for FLYER and/or email us at tec(at symbol)tectn.org.  Please include "TN Tree Project" in subject line.  You may also call us at 615-248-6500. 

If you are not with an organization, but would like to support the Tennessee Tree Project please complete this form to make a donation to the Council.   The Council requests a $3/tree donation for seedlings and a $15/tree donation for 2-3 year old saplings to help continue this project.  Because of the generosity of CareAll, anyone who donates for 3 trees ($9) will contribute two extra - 5 trees for the price of 3!


TREE RESOURCES

Information on species & planting for TN Tree Project  Seedlings and Trees

Urban Forest Coalition:  Trees A Prospectus

Tennessee Urban Forestry Council: Tree Information Center

GREAT Tree Facts from Tennessee Urban Forestry Council

Southeast Watershed Forum:  The Value of Community Trees

Silvics of North America (Information on habitat, life history, and genetics for 15 genera, 63 species, and 20 varieties of conifers and for 58 genera, 128 species, and 6 varieties of hardwoods.)

Warnell School of Forestry: Tree Selection for Drought Resistance

For TN Concrete Association Members: Overview of Program


SUCCESS STORIES

Tree planting project restores area devastated by tornado in Mufreesboro. 

Tennessee Concrete Association members commit to plant 100,000 trees by 2020!   The Tennessee Environmental Council applauds TCA for their committment to building a sustainable future.  Visit the TCA website to learn about "concrete" solutions to your environmental challenges.


RESOURCES FOR TREE PLANTING EVENTS

Once you sign up to host an event, you may use the following materials to help plan your event.  The Council requests a $3/tree donation to help operate the program.  If your organization needs 100 or more trees for your event, we can ship them to your organization.  We will need a minimum of two weeks notice.  For smaller orders, you will pick the trees up in the Nashville area on a designated date.  Tree species is subject to availability, but all trees are native to TN and/or the specific area of the state.  Information about the tree species, habitat, planting locations etc is availabe at the top of this site.  

Event Guidelines - To help you plan your event. 
Flyer - You may customize in MS Word to help promote your event.
Email Invitation - You may customize in MS Word and paste text into an email. 
TreeHelp.com - Step-by-step instructions for planting trees.
Press Release - Sample you may use as example and/or edit in MS Word.
Sign Up Sheet - To use on the day of event. 
Free Tree Sign - To use at the event.
Tree Cards  - See additional Printing Instructions in Event Guidelines
Tree Cards for Shumard Oak  Avery #5376 Business Card
Tree Cards for Tulip Poplar Avery #5376 Business Card
Tree Cards for Virginia Pine Avery #5376 Business Card


PROJECT SPONSORS


 









Because Healthy Communities Need Healthy Trees






Tennessee Concrete Association - Because planting trees is one of the most concrete actions you can take for the environment

Click here to return to Council Home Page


1. Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition FY2007 Funding Recommendations, April 2006.
2. Trees Atlanta, Facts, www.treesatlanta.org
3. Southeast Watershed Forum, The Value of Community Forests