Helping people help trees since 1994!

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A Photo from our 2026 Annual Arbor Day Tree Planting & Celebration!

Dear Friends of Our City Forest,

May has been a joyful and energizing month for us. Throughout Earth Month and Arbor Day season, we saw hundreds of volunteers, students, families, elected leaders, and community partners come together to plant trees, restore public spaces, and celebrate the power of community stewardship.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Annual Arbor Day Celebration & Community Tree Planting at Brigadoon Park in San José. Together with the Arbor Day Foundation, Microsoft, the City of San José, VTA, California Volunteers, AmeriCorps, and California Climate Action Corps, more than 200 volunteers came together on Arbor Day to plant trees and care for public green spaces across the neighborhood.

One of my favorite moments on Arbor Day was watching students as young as five years old carefully help stake and care for the trees they just planted. You could see the excitement and pride on their faces as they worked side by side with other volunteers of all ages.

At the same time, this season has also brought real challenges for organizations like ours. As many of our longtime supporters know, Our City Forest has been impacted by recent federal AmeriCorps funding disruptions and funding freezes affecting programs across the country. These changes have created uncertainty for our work in environmental stewardship, education, and workforce development.

Even through these challenges, Our City Forest has remained deeply committed to continuing this work. We have been actively reaching out to government leaders, local agencies, philanthropic partners, and community supporters to help sustain the programs that so many neighborhoods and families rely on. Our team continues to show up every day, planting trees, mentoring young leaders, maintaining public spaces, and creating opportunities for volunteers to make a difference in their own communities.

Every tree planted this spring represents more shade, cleaner air, and a stronger climate. Whether you joined us at a planting, volunteered at the nursery, attended a workshop, or helped spread the word, thank you for playing your part!

With gratitude and excitement,

Rhonda Berry
Founding President & CEO, Our City Forest

Check out more photos from our 2026 Annual Arbor Day Tree Planting & Celebration!

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee provided us a Certificate of Commendation and also honored the Brigadoon Neighborhood Association!

A special thank you as well to Applied Materials for their continued partnership and support, and for sending dozens of employee volunteers who worked alongside us!

The team from Power Integrations joined us to plant many trees across the park!

A simple way to give back:
👉 Make a small - or BIG - gift here, if you’re able: www.ourcityforest.org/donate

🌿 Spring Festival Recap

Our Annual Spring Festival at the Community Nursery & Training Center was a wonderful celebration of community, nature, and environmental learning. Hundreds of families, volunteers, and neighbors joined us for a fun-filled day of workshops, arts and crafts, music, educational activities, and hands-on experiences throughout the nursery. We even welcomed baby goats at our special petting zoo!

Visitors explored topics including pollinator-friendly plants, shrub propagation, herbalism, nature journaling, and sustainable gardening practices.

Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, and helped make this year’s Spring Festival such a success!

Join Our Community Planting at Ocala STEAM Academy

Join Our City Forest, One Tree Planted, TransPak, and community volunteers for a hands-on tree planting event at Ocala STEAM Academy in East San José! No experience is needed! Our team will provide all tools, training, gloves, and guidance. Families, students, and volunteers of all ages are encouraged to participate.

Saturday, May 16
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Ocala STEAM Academy
2800 Ocala Ave
San José, CA 95148

RSVP HERE

AmeriCorps Members of the Month!

This spring, we are excited to celebrate two incredible members of the Our City Forest team for their dedication, leadership, and impact in our community.

Our April AmeriCorps Member of the Month, Olivia, brings a bright attitude and relentless work ethic to the Nursery Team. She has already made her mark on the South Bay’s urban forest, including helping organize the first known Pocket Forest installation in San José at our Urban Forestry Education Center. Whether she’s pruning in the tree banks, feeding food scraps to our red wigglers, or planning projects to expand canopy cover and native biodiversity, Olivia approaches every task with creativity and care.

Our May AmeriCorps Member of the Month, Devin Slattery, serves as Planting Team Lead and excels at coaching volunteers, assisting residents through the planting process, and caring for trees planted throughout our community. Devin brings unmatched energy to every event, always ready with a helping hand and a sense of humor that lifts those around him.

🌿 Nursery Open Until 2:00pm on Saturday!

Our City Forest’s Community Nursery & Training Center will be open longer every Saturday!

Thursday–Friday: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Saturday: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Closed Sunday–Wednesday

We invite community members to stop by the nursery to explore available shrubs and trees, learn more about our programs, and connect with our team.

FREE TREES!

Did you know you may be eligible for a free street or yard tree provided by Our City Forest?

As recently highlighted in the Mercury News, free trees are available to Sunnyvale and San Jose residents on a first-come, first-served basis, with OCF providing planting and three years of care to ensure long-term health. To check your eligibility and apply, visit ourcityforest.org/free-trees. Our team will follow up to confirm details, permits, and planting support so your tree can thrive for years to come.

Through partnerships with the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and other public agencies, OCF provides trees at no cost to residents, schools, and community sites to expand shade, improve air quality, and strengthen neighborhood canopy, especially in areas most impacted by heat and pollution.

How to Get Started

• Visit our Free Tree page: ourcityforest.org/free-trees

• Enter your address in the map search bar

• If you’re eligible, select a tree from the approved species list

• Our team will follow up to confirm details, permits, and planting support

Quick Links

Support Us

Ways You Can Support Our Work:

Helping people help trees since 1994!

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Photos from this year’s “Bare Roots” workdays!

Dear Friends of Our City Forest,

March is a special month for those of us who care about trees. It is the heart of Bare Roots season at Our City Forest’s Community Nursery & Training Center. So far this year, volunteers have helped pot 885 trees toward our goal of 1,750 bare root trees that will be planted across Santa Clara County in the coming seasons. Bare root trees arrive dormant and without soil, and volunteers carefully pot them into containers so they can develop strong root systems before being planted in neighborhoods, parks, and schoolyards across our region.

We also celebrate California Arbor Day, which falls on March 7th and is a day dedicated to recognizing the importance of trees in our neighborhoods, schools, and public spaces. While the national Arbor Day is celebrated later in April, California observes it earlier in the year because our climate allows trees to be planted while they are still dormant, giving them the best chance to establish strong roots before the heat of summer arrives.

This timing reminds us that planting trees is an act of long-term care. When we plant a tree today, we are not just thinking about tomorrow. We are thinking about the shade that will protect a child walking home from school years from now, the cooler neighborhood streets during future heatwaves, and the habitat that birds and pollinators will rely on for decades.

That is the spirit behind everything we do at Our City Forest. This spring, our community is once again coming together to grow San José’s urban forest. Volunteers are joining us at neighborhood plantings, our AmeriCorps and Climate Action Corps service members are leading tree-care and nursery operations, and residents across the county are learning how to steward the trees that make our communities healthier and more resilient.

As we move into the spring planting season, we invite you to spring into action with us. Whether you join us for a planting, attend a workshop, volunteer at the nursery, or simply help spread the word, you are helping grow a greener future. Thank you for being part of this shared effort.

With gratitude and resolve,

Rhonda Berry
Founding President & CEO, Our City Forest

A simple way to give back:
👉 Make a small - or BIG - gift here, if you’re able: www.ourcityforest.org/donate

Join Us This Spring for a Community Planting!🍃

Our community has been busy this winter caring for the trees that make our neighborhoods healthier and cooler. From nursery workdays to neighborhood plantings, volunteers have been digging, mulching, watering, and stewarding trees. Join us this spring for a hands-on community event!

Butterfield Park Community Planting
Saturday, March 14
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
15700 Monterey Road
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

RSVP AT THIS LINK

Hillview Park Community Planting – Phase 1 & 2
Saturday, March 21 & March 28
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Adrian Way & Ocala Avenue
San José, CA 95122

RSVP AT THIS LINK

7 Trees Education Center Community Planting
Saturday, March 21
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
300 El Cajon Drive
San José, CA 95111

RSVP AT THIS LINK

AmeriCorps Member of the Month

We are delighted to recognize Shelly Seymour as AmeriCorps Member of the Month! As a California Climate Action Corps (CCAC) fellow, she is a member of both the Planting Team and the Outreach Team. Shelly is a cornerstone in both. Her energy and dedication to OCF’s mission can be felt throughout her work. As part of the Planting Team, Shelly helps plant trees around our community and teaches volunteers how to plant so they can leave their mark on the city. With the Outreach Team, she helps spread OCF’s mission and bring more people to our volunteer events.

Shelly has always been interested in environmental science and nature. She went to college at the University of Oregon, where she majored in Environmental Science with a focus on biology and minored in Sustainable Business. Shelly shared that she “didn’t know much about trees before starting this job, and it’s been amazing learning about, caring for, and expanding the urban forest here in San Jose. It brings me such joy to guide volunteers on how to plant a tree and to teach them about the importance of trees for people and the environment. It’s really great because every tree planted is a way for volunteers to actively shape the environment around them for the better.”

“Tree Amigo” Spring Saturday Series

Learn urban forestry skills and grow a greener Silicon Valley with us!

The Tree Amigo Saturday Series is an 8-week hands-on training program designed for volunteers who want to deepen their knowledge of urban forestry and community stewardship.

Throughout the series, participants rotate through activities including:

• Nursery operations

• Tree planting

• Tree pruning

• Plant propagation

• Community outreach

Sessions take place at our Community Nursery, planting sites across San José, and community events throughout the region. No prior experience is necessary.

Participants who attend 6 of the 8 sessions will receive a Tree Amigo Certificate during our Arbor Day community planting celebration!

Community Alert: Fruit Fly Quarantine in Santa Clara County

A temporary Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) quarantine is currently in effect across parts of Santa Clara County, including areas of San José, Santa Clara, Campbell, and Los Gatos. Residents in the quarantine zone are asked not to move homegrown fruits or vegetables off their property to help stop the spread of this invasive pest. Homegrown fruit can still be eaten, cooked, or double-bagged and disposed of on-site. The quarantine may remain in place for several months while eradication efforts continue.

👉 Learn more and check the quarantine map at this link.

FREE TREES!

Did you know you may be eligible for a free street or yard tree provided by Our City Forest?

As recently highlighted in the Mercury News, free trees are available to Sunnyvale and San Jose residents on a first-come, first-served basis, with OCF providing planting and three years of care to ensure long-term health. To check your eligibility and apply, visit ourcityforest.org/free-trees. Our team will follow up to confirm details, permits, and planting support so your tree can thrive for years to come.

Through partnerships with the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and other public agencies, OCF provides trees at no cost to residents, schools, and community sites to expand shade, improve air quality, and strengthen neighborhood canopy, especially in areas most impacted by heat and pollution.

How to Get Started

• Visit our Free Tree page: ourcityforest.org/free-trees

• Enter your address in the map search bar

• If you’re eligible, select a tree from the approved species list

• Our team will follow up to confirm details, permits, and planting support