If you’ve been hiking in California, odds are you’ve encountered the chaparral, the most widespread native plant community in the state. Here’s everything you need to know about this amazing (but often under-appraciated) ecosystem: Home to 20 percent of California’s plant species, chaparral is defined by dense, low-lying shrubs like sagebrush, ceanothus, manzanita, and chamise,…
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The Power of Planned Giving: A Greener Tomorrow Starts Today
August 14, 2024A Letter from Our Director of Development Dear TreePeople Family, With August in full swing, we celebrate National Make-A-Will Month—a time to reflect on the lasting legacy each of us can leave for the future of our environment. Legacy giving, or planned giving, is an extraordinary way to ensure your values live on, nurturing the…
How to grow native plants in containers
August 13, 2024The benefits of growing California native plants are vast: they increase biodiversity by providing habitat and food for native creatures. They’re highly sustainable and low maintenance because they’re adapted to California’s ecosystem. And of course, they’re just plain beautiful! If you have a yard you can rip out and replace with natives—you absolutely should! Our…
Learn More About Your Own Trees With The Help Of TreePeople and the Forest Service
August 1, 2024Have you ever wanted to learn more about the trees and plants in your very own backyard? What are they called? And what positive impacts do they have on your life and in your neighborhood? TreePeople is partnering with the U.S. Forest Service to answer some of these questions, and we need your help. At…
“Good” Plants vs. “Bad” Plants: unpacking the invasive species discourse
July 15, 2024Native, 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…
If you can’t beat it, eat it! Five ways to use invasive black mustard
June 11, 2024If 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…
Call to Action! Allocate $1B for School Greening in the Proposed Education Bond
May 30, 2024No 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…
From fire damage to flourishing habitat: TreePeople kicks off $7 million mountain restoration effort
May 17, 2024Fire 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…
Pruning 101: the TreePeople guide to proper tree pruning
May 9, 2024If 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…
TreePeople Celebrates Environmental Education with 2024 Youth Summit
April 18, 2024Over 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.
Community-Centered Branding: TreePeople’s Logo History
March 19, 2024The 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…
Eight Native California Wildflowers to Look for This Spring
March 13, 2024It’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…