Ever notice the trees in your neighborhood? Maybe they are spectacular specimens with giant canopies that shade the streets and make you want to be a kid again and climb to the top. Or maybe they are small, under-cared for, half-dying trees, and it’s not even clear what kind they are. More than likely, it…
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Western Redbud: “A tree with year-round interest!”
February 27, 2013Why is the Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) the best tree ever? Maybe it’s because at this time of year, redbuds are the focal point of any garden lucky enough to have them. This native Californian is a small tree (15–20’ x 15–20’) and does well in most any kind of soil, as long as it is…
Not your typical field trip: 500 students win a chance to replant the Angeles National Forest
February 15, 2013Students from 10 Los Angeles area middle and high schools learned this week that they were winners of sponsored field trips to the Angeles National Forest to help restore fire-damaged areas of one of Los Angeles County’s largest preserved open space. The Facebook-based contest TreeByTree was a collaboration between TreePeople and Edison International. On a…
A Valentines Day tour of your local sewage treatment plant?
February 14, 2013Seeking inspiration on how to spend Valentine’s Day? Check out this idea: Brooklyn Sewage Treatment Plant to Hold Valentines Day Tours Again. What makes this such a sell-out event on the other coast? NPR reported that perhaps it is the pheromones that makes this unusual tour part of the hipsters’ bucket list, but maybe it’s…
When Trees Thrive, People Thrive
February 9, 2013We at TreePeople certainly believe that what we are doing is a matter of life and death. But sometimes we’re confronted with more sobering proof than we expected. That’s what happened when I read this article by Lindsay Abrams that recently appeared in The Atlantic, “When Trees Die, People Die.” I expected that this article…
Learn How to Get Your Landscape Really Green
February 7, 2013You may have noticed that some years in Los Angeles County are wetter—or drier—than others. And in wet years you may also have noticed a lot of unfiltered water rushing off paved surfaces, into storm drains, and out to sea carrying whatever pollutants it washes over. So, not only are we losing water that could…
Like it or not, you DO make a difference
February 6, 2013“You are never in neutral,” TreePeople founder Andy Lipkis tells environmental leader Huey Johnson, in an interview about how we all affect the environment. “People say [to me], ‘I love what you do because you show that people can make a difference.’” The truth is, people do make a difference, Andy says. And it comes…
Check Off Your Unbucket List
January 30, 2013Just when you thought you didn’t need another to-do list in your life, Unbucket launches to encourage your list to grow. With Unbucket, you can to expand your to-do list in the direction of the things—outdoor activities, charitable causes, learning opportunities, intellectual pursuits—you’re most passionate about. Unbucket is an app for sharing lists of things…
Sheet Mulching 101 (part 2 of 2)
January 24, 2013Want to see how an average home in Los Angeles can save almost 100,000 gallons of water per year? Here is TreePeople member and volunteer Valerie Fontaine, converting her yard to a sustainable site. With a simple DIY project, Valerie transformed her garden in a weekend. Following Part 1 of our tutorial, here are your…
Sheet Mulching 101 (part 1 of 2)
January 23, 2013What is sheet mulching? Just the quickest, easiest way to go from a thirsty, outdated green shag carpet of a landscape to a sustainable garden in about the time it takes to mow the lawn. Follow these easy steps and you can do what fabulous TreePeople member and volunteer Valerie Fontaine recently did at her…
A Living Memorial and a Model for Community Engagement
January 18, 2013On January 15, 1990, three thousand people came out to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by planting 400 trees along the entire length of MLK Boulevard in South Los Angeles–seven miles in a single day. At this event, organized by TreePeople, each tree was named in memory of someone, and then adopted by a neighboring…
Grow a Food Forest in a Food Desert
January 16, 2013The term “food desert” describes an urban community that lacks access to fresh, healthy food in local shops and grocery stores. These are regions in our city where, for various reasons, neighborhood retailers can’t or don’t stock produce and healthful alternatives to processed fast food. In Inglewood’s “100 Seeds of Change” initiative, residents have taken…