Blog

Anatomy of a Chaparral Ecosystem 

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,…

Read more →

The Power of Planned Giving: A Greener Tomorrow Starts Today

A 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…

Read more →

How to grow native plants in containers

The 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…

Read more →

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

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…

Read more →

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

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…

Read more →

Pruning 101: the TreePeople guide to proper tree pruning

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…

Read more →

Community-Centered Branding: TreePeople’s Logo History

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…

Read more →