Each year, Environmental Services and partners at Friends of Trees plant street trees in many Portland neighborhoods. Since 2008, more than 1000 trees have been planted in the Tabor to the River program area. Street trees provide a variety of benefits to residents, including intercepting stormwater, providing habitat, increasing property values, calming traffic, improving aesthetics, and reducing pollution.

This year, we checked in on the first trees we planted in 2008, 2009, and 2010. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the vast majority of trees were alive and healthy. In just 5-7 years, they’ve really grown up!

Paperbark maple in 2009 (left) and 2015 (right)

City Sprite Zelkova in 2011 (left) and 2015 (right)

Frontier elm in 2010 (left) and 2015 (right)

In 2014-2015, Tabor to the River and Friends of Trees planted another 182 trees in the program area, with 93 of those planted as part of the Division Streetscape Project.

Want low-cost street trees of your own? Click here to sign up for Friends of Trees and take part in your community planting event. And click here to learn more about the Environmental Services Tree Program.