We are a group of neighbors who over the past two years have come together both formally and informally to care for our block’s tiny urban gardens - our street tree beds. We're long-time residents and new arrivals, diverse in age, race, gender, and socio-economic status. We're renters, home owners, and business owners, who care about one another and care about our community. 

What started with cleaning a single tree bed quickly grew to 20+ neighbors gathering to clean, compost, mulch, and plant 120 bulbs in 15 tree beds along our block. Together, we’ve pooled money to buy inexpensive temporary fences to try to protect our gardens, and donated time to clean debris and spread the word about the importance of street trees for both environmental and racial justice in our historically red-lined neighborhood.

However, our flimsy tree guards have not withstood sidewalk traffic or car doors opening and we’re rapidly seeing our community efforts quite literally be trampled upon.

While our volunteerism will continue, we are in desperate need of proper, city-approved tree guards, which are unfortunately too expensive for us to fund on our own.  We're confident the installation of tree guards will not only increase community pride, but will reward the amazing efforts of our neighbors thus far and inspire continued action.