TreePeople

“Good” Plants vs. “Bad” Plants: unpacking the invasive species discourse

Bryan Vejar — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 19:54:26 +0000

Native, non-native, and invasive. If you’re passionate about plants, you’ve probably heard these terms thrown around a lot. They’re used to describe the origins of different species, and often the connotation is that native plants are “good,” while other plants are “bad” or unwanted, and should be removed. But is this always true? Can plants...

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If you can’t beat it, eat it! Five ways to use invasive black mustard

Zoie Matthew — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 19:22:44 +0000

If you live in Southern California, you’re probably familiar with the ubiquitous black mustard plant. Every spring, its bright yellow flowers blanket our hillsides, freeway medians, parks—basically, anywhere there’s a patch of dirt, mustard will grow. It’s a plant that thrives in disturbed areas—and unfortunately, it often disturbs the habitat around it, too. Considered invasive...

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Call to Action! Allocate $1B for School Greening in the Proposed Education Bond

Zoie Matthew — Thu, 30 May 2024 19:43:31 +0000

No child dreams of playing on scorching hot asphalt. And yet, more than 2.5 million K-12 students in California attend schools with less than 5% tree canopy in their play areas. Not only do green schoolyards enrich learning outcomes and improve mental health, they also provide life saving shade for our students and teachers. We...

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From fire damage to flourishing habitat: TreePeople kicks off $7 million mountain restoration effort

Zoie Matthew — Fri, 17 May 2024 21:00:36 +0000

Fire has always been a natural part of California’s ecology. But in recent years, climate change and decreasing biodiversity have resulted in more frequent and larger wildfires in the Angeles National Forest and the adjacent wildland-urban interface. That’s why on May 16, 2024, TreePeople and California Botanic Garden (CalBG) kicked off a $7 million initiative...

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Pruning 101: the TreePeople guide to proper tree pruning

Zoie Matthew — Thu, 09 May 2024 20:03:50 +0000

If you’re a homeowner, a landscaping professional, or someone who just cares a lot about the health of your local trees, you’re probably familiar with the practice of pruning. In its simplest form, pruning involves removing branches from a tree for a specific purpose. But how often should you be doing this? Which branches should...

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TreePeople Celebrates Environmental Education with 2024 Youth Summit

Adam Thomas — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:06:45 +0000

Over 50 years ago, TreePeople began as a testament to the power of youth and we’re continuing to harness that spirit with our environmental education programming.

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Community-Centered Branding: TreePeople’s Logo History

Bliss Parsons — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 18:48:15 +0000

The year is 1970. At a summer camp in the San Bernardino Mountains, a 15-year-old “leadership camper” named Andy Lipkis learns that air pollution from the city is killing Southern California’s forests. It was a striking realization for the budding environmentalist—one that stuck with him until college, and inspired the school project that would change...

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Eight Native California Wildflowers to Look for This Spring

Zoie Matthew — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 19:47:19 +0000

It’s been a wet, rainy winter here in Southern California, and as we look towards the warmer days ahead, nature-lovers are wondering — does that mean there’s another superbloom in store? The short answer is: it’s too soon to tell. While rain can help usher in the dramatic floral displays that blanket our hillsides in...

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How TreePeople is Greening Schoolyards

Eric Wilson — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:17:44 +0000

In the preface to Claire Latané’s Schools That Heal, she reminds us that “It is hard to make healthy schools. Even in neighborhoods that have plenty of resources, most school environments fall short of supporting students’ mental and physical health and well-being.” TreePeople’s School Greening initiative aims to collaborate with school communities to reimagine how...

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The Health Benefits of Nature

Steph Liakos — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 19:27:07 +0000

In a world glued to screens and constant connectivity, it’s not just a feel-good myth—nature’s got some serious perks for our well-being. Besides the “get off your phone” and “touch grass” cliches, science backs up the fact that spending time outdoors can benefit your health. We’ve compiled a non-exhaustive list of ways that nature can...

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Meet Toyon: The Official City Plant of Los Angeles

Steph Liakos — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 23:53:09 +0000

Have you noticed red berries around southern California lately? Chances are they might belong to heteromeles arbutifolia, a California-native shrub also known as toyon or “California holly.” Toyon — a perennial found throughout western California and the Sierra foothills — has dark green, toothed leaves and white flowers in the summer that yield to red...

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The Urban Forest Loses a Giant: Mourning the Loss of Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne

Dustin Herrmann — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 23:29:50 +0000

The urban forestry community lost a giant with the sudden passing of Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne on January 6. Jarlath led a globally respected lab that used high-resolution imagery of the earth to map land cover in our complex urban landscapes at fine level of detail with astounding accuracy. The work of Jarlath’s Spatial Analysis Lab at...

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