What is Bare Roots and why should I volunteer for this?

  • Our City Forest receives a large shipment of bare root trees around early February/ March each year. This amount can range anywhere from 1200-1800+ trees depending on the current inventory and future demand for trees.

  • These trees are essential for our projects and residents who need a tree.

What happens before and during the event?

  • "Treench" Preparation:

    • We create multiple long trenches of soil amendment to temporarily store the bare root trees a few weeks ahead of the delivery date.

  • Tools and Materials Preparation:

    • Old pots are scrubbed and stakes are sanitized ahead of time.

    • We use soil that are either premixed by a vendor or hand-mixed on site.

  • Tree Arrival & Processing:

    • Incoming trees are unloaded and inspected on arrival. They would arrive in bundles of 5-10 or in a VigorLiner®.

    • Trees are then sorted and tagged by their species.

    • Bundles of trees are immediately placed in the "treench" to protect their roots from drying out while VigorLiner® trees are placed on pallets to be grouped by species.

Trees arrived in a VigorLiner®

Trees arrived in bundles

Trees are root pruned to avoid root-girdling

  • Tree Care:

    • Trees are pruned and checked for health and structure.

    • Regular watering of the treench during this process is a must.

  • Transplanting

    • When ready, trees are removed from the "treench," to be once again inspected for quality and receive any necessary root pruning.

    • Trees is now ready to be transplanted into 15-gallons pots!

  • Quality Control

    • Trees passing quality checks will be thoroughly watered and then moved into their designated rows.

  • Quality Control

    • Trees passing quality checks will be staked, leader tied and thoroughly watered before they are moved into their designated rows.

Why is Bare Roots important?

  • Provides a significant number of trees that Our City Forest uses for the following planting seasons.

  • Offers valuable hands-on experience for volunteers and Sillicon Valley Climate Corps members.

How can I get involved?

  • Volunteer: We welcome volunteers to assist with various tasks before, and during Bare Roots such as trench and materials preparation, tree transplants, and tree moves.

  • Donations: Your financial support helps us continue doing our work. Thank you for your support!

  • For more information or to volunteer, please visit ourcityforest.eventbrite.com or email Lowell@ourcityforest.org

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