Blog
Below are simple planting instructions for deciduous and pine tree seedlings.
For a more complete, interactive tree planting lesson, please visit this page.
Thank you for participating in our program!
Happy Earth Day!
Click here for a downloadable version of Tree Planting Instructions
Posted on April 25, 2019 by vnarula
Dear Parents,
Happy Earth Day (and Week)! Your tree is coming (if it has not already)!
Thank you for registering to receive and plant a free tree with your child(ren) through Neighborhood Forest!
You are part of a coordinated national tree planting initiative that will involve close to 7000 families across North America!
Important Information About Your New Tree
Trees are being shipped to schools this week and will be brought home with your child(ren) by Thursday or Friday this week.
Please keep your tree refrigerated and roots damp until planted!
Most of you will be receiving an Eastern Red Cedar tree. Below is information about your new tree and some simple planting instructions.
The eastern redcedar grows to a height of 40–50′ and a spread of 8–20′ at maturity and grows at a medium rate, with height increases of 13–24″ per year.
Redcedars are unusually long-lived, with the potential to live over 900 years. The oldest tree reported, from West Virginia, is 940 years old!
Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree, meaning it should get at least six hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.
Redcedar foliage provides nesting and roosting cover for sparrows, robins, mockingbirds, juncos, and warblers.
The eastern redcedar is an ancient tree, dating back to aboriginal America.
Want to thank us?
Please send us pictures of your kids with the trees! We love seeing the smiling kids with their trees, especially when they are planted.
We are celebrating our 10th year of giving away free trees and we are starting to collect “then and now” photos of the kids and their trees (see below). We would love to collect more!
These pictures keep us inspired and motivated – please share the joy! You can post them on our Facebook page.
We are ever so grateful for your participation in our program.
It would not be possible without dedicated parents, children, schools, coordinators, volunteers, and sponsors.
Thank you for making this spring season extra special!
Posted on April 5, 2017 by vnarula
Spring has sprung!
That’s right. In just a few weeks, the tree giveaway will be happening at schools and communities across the US (and even in parts of Canada!).
Did you register for a tree this year? Awesome! You’re all set.
Slipped your mind? Forgot to tie that string on your finger? That’s okay. You’ve earned your good karma points. You still have a chance to register for a tree until Sunday, April 9 even if your school’s deadline has passed.
Is your child’s school participating this year? Can’t remember? You can find out here. Don’t see your child’s school on the list? That’s okay too. You can sign up here. (Make sure you do this on a tablet, laptop or desk computer.)
Spring may be the season for tree planting, but there’s some “family members” that haven’t been feeling the tree hugging love.
You might know one or two. We know one. Surprised how we overlooked him. He loves to dig. He loves dirt and after fire hydrants trees are his best friend. If anyone was a natural at tree planting (or tree wetting!), it’s him!
So rather than feeling left out this year, he took the initiative. We still don’t know how he learned to type. But that’s for another day.
Right now it’s time to exhale, lift our heads up and stretch towards Earth Day. As you enjoy this spring season with its blossoming flowers, blue skies and warmer weather, remember to keep your umbrellas handy. It’s going to be raining trees for the next few weeks!
Posted on March 23, 2016 by vnarula
Have you noticed all the new home decorating magazines popping up at checkout counters and bookstores lately? It seems there’s a new one arriving everyday.
There must be hundreds of them now. Some are tied to a famous brand or person. Some have European-sounding names. Some are just weird. But regardless of where they fall on the spectrum, most of them are saying the same thing.
Add color! Paint! Renovate! Remodel! Buy nice towels. Done.
Ok, maybe that’s a bit simplified.
Some of the articles have interesting nuggets of advice, but I find most a little over the top. For instance, one magazine suggested my life will find new meaning when I begin to hold regular soirees filled with glitter balloons, spiced pear truffles and some kind of lustrous light candleholders.
Really?
Thanks for the advice, but I’ll pass.
All the inspiration I need is right in front of me. Spring has officially arrived, which means over the next several weeks I’ve got a front-row seat to learn from the Mother of all Home Decorators.
Can anyone match her creativity, her brilliance, when it comes to decorating her own home? What’s a glitter balloon compared to a budding flower? What are spiced pear truffles compared to a juicy, ripe pear she lets me pluck and eat off a tree?
Wouldn’t it be great if we helped Mama Nature out a bit? She’s been doing this for a couple zillion years.
Of course, we can’t match her attention to detail, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind some extra help. What if we cared for, decorated and celebrated our collective home with the same zeal as she does, with as much love as those magazines want us to care for and celebrate our individual ones?
The good news is we are. Millions of us are coming together on April 22 to honor the greatest home decorator and greatest home ever.
All of us are contributing in our own small way. Neighborhood Forest, for instance, is launching its biggest tree giveaway yet, hoping to give away nearly 10,000 trees to kids during Earth Week (April 18-22).
Do you want a tree for your child? You can sign up (on a laptop, tablet or desktop computer) to get one. To find out if your child’s school participating, you can go to this link: https://www.neighborhoodforest.org/search-for-school/
We know parent participation increases when kids are involved. If a child wants a tree to plant, we don’t want them to go home from school empty-handed. So this year we’ve created a fun video just for them. (See below.)
We hope it will make them smile, reminding them to tell mom or dad not to forget our real “home decorating” day!
Earth Day is coming. Come join the celebration and let’s decorate our home together.
No glitter balloons necessary.
Vivek Narula is the Director of Neighborhood Forest (@treesforkids) – an organization that gives free trees to schoolchildren every Earth Day.
Posted on November 24, 2015 by vnarula
Many nations. One goal. One very important conference.
The future of our planet is on the line, and we have a few words to say about it!
Vivek Narula is the Director of Neighborhood Forest (@treesforkids) – an organization that gives free trees to schoolchildren every Earth Day.
Posted on October 17, 2015 by vnarula
Remember those days many years ago when the only way to see anything was to look up?
Remember when an upward tilt of your head was followed by a surprise pat on your noggin, a pinch on your cheek, or a remark about your adorability factor?
Well, Neighborhood Forest’s 8 year old spokesman Ishaan knows all about it. And so do some of his friends.
Enjoy! 🙂
Vivek Narula is the Director of Neighborhood Forest (@treesforkids) – an organization that gives free trees to schoolchildren every Earth Day.
Posted on April 7, 2015 by vnarula
Spring is here!
Get the shovels out of the shed, dust off those yard boots, we’re less than two weeks away from Earth Day.
To kick off the season of grass stained knees and dirt-caked hands, Neighborhood Forest’s 7 year old spokesman shares an Earth Day message about feet, footprints and trees.
Enjoy!
Vivek Narula is the Director of Neighborhood Forest (@treesforkids) – an organization that gives free trees to schoolchildren every Earth Day.
