When Do We Plant?

We plant Saturday mornings, 9 am to 1 pm, November through June.

• We plant during the raining months when rains may help make the soil more workable. This time of year is when the trees will be dormant and the weather is cool - so there is less shock for the tree when it is transplanted. This time of year allows the trees to establish it roots, before it braves the warmer sunnier climate that will promote top growth. 

Volunteer to Plant With Us!

​Get the latest info on our volunteer events and sign up to plant with us on our Meetup  page  https://www.meetup.com/Trees-for-Oakland/
​(we also prune and retrieve tree stakes). 

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Youth are welcomed and encouraged to participate - we simply ask that there be a guardian if they are young children and that all youth under 18 please have their guardian fill out a waiver found here.

How Do We Plant Our Trees?

There are many ways one can plant a tree. This is the way that we do it. (Download full guide here).
We aim to place 2-3 people per tree.

Tools & Materials:

Digging Tools:

• 1 round-nosed shovel per person
• 1 square-nosed shovel per crew
• 1 pick axe per crew

Clean-up Tools:

• 1 tarp or sheet per crew
• 1 broom per crew
• Wire brush

Pruning Tools:

• 1 hand pruner
• 1 folding hand saw

Steel Staking System:

• 1 metal stake per tree
• 1 L-bar per tree
• 1 crossbar, rubber strap, & nut, bolt, and washer attachment system per tree
• 1 adjustable wrench per crew

Dressing the Tree:

• (1) 15-gallon bucket mulch per 10 trees
• (1) 15-gallon bucket mulch per tree

Safety:

• Orange safety cones

Step 1 - Prepare the hole:

• The sidewalk will be marked with a white bull's eye - indicating where the center of the tree will go.
• Lay a tarp down beside the sidewalk to keep it clean.
• Using a round-nosed shovel, dig a 3' x 3' square hole.
  • Sometimes the soil will be too hard for a shovel. When that is the case, use a pick axe to loosen, then shovel the loose soil out, and repeat.
  • When digging, you may notice the soil changing as you go deeper (in color, in texture, etc.) - try to keep the different layers of soil separate (see step 3).
  • Dig the hole as deep as the tree is in the nursery pot - up to its root crown.
    • The root crown = the base of the trunk, where it starts to flare out towards the roots. 
    • Try not to dig any deeper because you want a stable foundation for the tree.
    • Form a little mound at the base of the hole:
      • You can do this by digging a deeper ring at the bottom OR by filling the middle back in with some soil and tamping it firm.
    • Make sure not to compact the side walls of the hole - keep them scored or loose to encourage the roots to grow out to the sides.
• To check the depth of the hole:
  • Lay down a shovel (or stick) across the opening.
  • Invert another shovel into the hole and use your hands to mark the depth.
  • Compare the depth of the hole to depth of the nursery pot.

Step 2 - Prepare the tree for planting:

• Smack the sides of the nursery pot to dislodge the root-ball. 
• Slide the tree out of the pot:
  • Tilt the tree to one side - almost completely on its side.
  • Have one person hold onto the pot.
  • Another person grabs hold of the base of the trunk and gently pulls the tree out. 
• After the tree is out, massage the root-ball to loosen up the roots.
  • If there are roots encircling the root-ball, cut them away with pruners or use the serrated edge of a saw to break the roots up.
  • This prevents the circling roots from choking out other roots as they grow bigger. 
  • No need to  hold back - as much 1/3 of the roots can be removed without causing too much harm. 

Step 3 - Plant the tree:

• Sometimes, the branches will be wrapped up with twine for easier transport.  In these cases - remove the twine to free the branches.
• Put the tree into the hole on top of the mound. 
  • When doing this, try to hold the root ball rather than the trunk to prevent damage.
• Make sure that the root crown is at/or above the soil line.
  • Above is OK - as the tree settles, it may sink further down.
  • We don't want the root crown to be below the soil line, as the tree may rot if the root crown is covered with soil.
• Check the orientation of the tree:
  • Branches should not reach out toward pedestrians or toward cars.
  • Orient the branches parallel to the sidewalk.
  • If there are predominant winds - angle the tree slightly against the winds. As the winds blow, it will push the tree into the right position.
    • Generally the winds will come from the bay - from the west, but pay attention to microclimates.
• Back-fill the hole half way:
  • ​​Remember when you kept the different types of materials separate when digging? Fill the soil back in,  in the same order in which it was dig up - keeping similar soil type with similar soil type.
  • It helps to have someone stabilizing the tree as it is filled​​, and double checking to make sure the tree hasn't moved during the filling process.
  • Water in the half-filled hole to allow the soil to settle and to eliminate air-pockets.
  • Double check orientation and make sure the tree is standing up right.
• Continue filling the hole until full.
• If there is extra soil, spread it around evenly - either around the planting strip or loosely in a circle 1'-1.5' from the trunk.

Step 4 - Add a stake:

• If the trunk looks stable enough - remove the existing wooden/bamboo nursery stake and backfill the hole with more soil.
• Place the green metal stake on the side of the tree where the prevailing winds are coming from - usually this would be coming in from the bay on the west. 
  • Position it halfway between the street and the sidewalk to keep it as far away from either as possible.
  • Measure were the stake should be using the green metal cross-bar.
• Drive the stake into the ground:
  • First start it manually.
  • Then using the L-bar, turn the stake into the soil to the depth marked on the bottom of the stake.
  • Drive it low enough into the ground that you wouldn't be able to pull it out manually .
• Attach the cross-bar to the stake:
  • Place the cross-bar over the stake.
  • The cross-bar would ideally sit below the lowest branch on the tree, but if the lowest branch is very low and the tree is top heavy, find a spot higher up the trunk between 2 branches.
  • Using a wrench, screw the cross-bar to the stake.
  • Wrap the rubber strap around the tree and attach to the cross-bar.
    • The strap should go around the the young tree to give it support, but it should be loose enough to still allow the tree to move slightly in the wind. 
    • As the tree sways in the wind, it will strengthen its fibers and its roots to anchor itself better.
    • Make sure to have the washer between the strap and the nuts and bolts - this helps distribute the weight of the fasteners - if it is on the outside it doesn't do what it is supposed to. 

Step 5 - Add top dressings:

• Sprinkle little to no compost around the tree 6"-12" from the trunk.
  • Again - there should be nothing covering the root crown.
  • We do not add compost to the backfill, as we do not want the roots to meet a differing medium that may cause the roots to turn in a different direction.
  • If you like, you can gently incorporate the compost into the soil.
• Form a berm:
  • Form a donut around the tree about 1'-1.5' away from the trunk. You started this with the soil and compost.
  • If the tree well is on hill, form the berm into a raised "C" on the lower side of the tree - to help retain water from running off. 
  • Add one 15-gallon container of mulch for the berm.
    • This covers the compost and helps the soil above the roots retain moisture.

Step 6 - Water the tree:

• Completely saturate the root ball with 3 buckets of water (~15 gallons of water)
  • As water percolates down, fix any holes that may have formed in the soil. 

Step 7 - Clean up!

• For pedestrian safety, the height of the planting strip should be level with the surrounding asphalt.
  • Back-fill the opened ground with soil or mulch until it is flush with the walkway.
• Return all nursery pots, any extra dirt, tarp, tools, picked up trash, etc. to the truck to return to headquarters.
  • Nothing should remain at the site except the newly planted tree - staked, composted, mulched, and watered.
• Sweep the sidewalk of any residual soil.
  • Sweep it onto the planting strip, not the gutter.
  • A square nose shovel is good for this.

Step 8 - Take a picture!

Celebrate all of your hard work with a picture! Please send it to us so we can share it with the world that you just helped make Oakland a little greener, a little cleaner. ;)