# City Plants

> Los Angeles public-private partnership delivering free yard trees and planting street trees in low-canopy neighborhoods

Source: https://treerm.org/org/city-plants · Updated 2026-11-08 · Data license: CC BY 4.0 (https://treerm.org/about#license)

## Facts

- Type: Government program
- Scope: Local
- Headquarters: Los Angeles, California, United States
- Founded: 2006
- Website: https://www.cityplants.org
- Volunteer sign-up: https://www.cityplants.org/volunteer/
- Donate: https://city-plants.networkforgood.com/projects/66143-growing-the-future-la-deserves
- Events calendar: https://www.cityplants.org/calendar/
- Countries where they plant: United States
- Activity types: Urban forestry (primary), Tree adoption & giveaways, Nurseries & seedlings, Education & advocacy
- Trees on record: 43,000 (larger of latest cumulative figure and sum of annual figures; trees planted or distributed)

## About

City Plants is the City of Los Angeles's tree planting partnership, housed in the city's Board of Public Works and funded largely by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, with a nonprofit arm administered through the fiscal sponsor Community Partners. It continues the 2006 Million Trees LA initiative and coordinates six nonprofit partners (including TreePeople, North East Trees and the LA Conservation Corps) to deliver up to seven free shade trees to any city resident's door, run roughly 200 community tree adoption events a year, and plant street trees in parkways with a focus on neighborhoods with the least canopy. It also runs a Tree Ambassador training program and the Commonwealth Nursery in Griffith Park.

## Programs

- **Yard Trees (free tree delivery and adoptions)** — Tree adoption & giveaways: Free five-gallon shade and fruit trees for City of Los Angeles residents, delivered to the door (up to seven per address, 30+ water-efficient species) or picked up at community tree adoption events held nearly 200 times a year. https://www.cityplants.org/our-programs/yard-trees/
- **Street Trees** — Urban forestry: Plants trees in the parkway in front of homes, apartments, businesses and schools on request, with neighborhood-scale plantings in low-canopy areas and three years of establishment care. https://www.cityplants.org/our-programs/street-trees/
- **Tree Ambassador Program** — Education & advocacy (2021–present): Paid community training program whose cohorts canvass neighborhoods, sign up residents for trees and lead plantings; the first cohort ran September 2021 to April 2022. https://www.cityplants.org/tree-ambassador/
- **Commonwealth Nursery** — Nurseries & seedlings: Revived city nursery in Griffith Park growing trees for City Plants' plantings and giveaways. https://www.cityplants.org/commonwealth-nursery/

## Metrics

> Note: City Plants describes itself as a non-profit organization running a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles and six nonprofits, but it operates inside the city's Board of Public Works with LADWP funding and its nonprofit arm is a project of the fiscal sponsor Community Partners rather than its own 501(c)(3), so it is listed here as a city program. Its published results are from 2020: the impact page reports over 20,000 yard trees distributed and over 3,000 street trees planted that year, while its donation page says it 'planted and gave away over 13,000 trees' in 2020. The Our Story page gives a standing figure of 20,000 trees planted and distributed per year. No year-specific totals after 2020 were found.

| Metric | Year | Value | Cumulative | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---:|---|---|---|---|
| Trees planted | 2026 | 20,000 | no (that year) | organization-wide | Self-reported | [source](https://www.cityplants.org/our-story/) Our Story page: 'We plant and distribute 20,000 trees a year' (accessed Nov 2026; a standing annual figure combining street trees planted and yard trees given away) |
| Volunteers engaged | 2020 | 500 | no (that year) | organization-wide | Self-reported | [source](https://www.cityplants.org/our-impact/) Our Impact page: worked with 'over 500 volunteers' at tree planting events in 2020 |
| Trees distributed | 2020 | 20,000 | no (that year) | Yard Trees (free tree delivery and adoptions) | Self-reported | [source](https://www.cityplants.org/our-impact/) Our Impact page, '2020: A Year for the Books': 'over 20,000 yard trees' distributed and delivered to Angelenos, through 'over 200 community tree adoption events' |
| Trees planted | 2020 | 3,000 | no (that year) | Street Trees | Self-reported | [source](https://www.cityplants.org/our-impact/) Our Impact page: 'over 3,000 new street trees' planted throughout Los Angeles in 2020, plus 'nearly 500 trees in parks' (not included in this value) |

Confidence: self-reported is the organization's own published figure; independently verified means a third party confirmed it; estimated means TreeRM derived it and the note says how.

## Links

- x: https://x.com/cityplants
- instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cityplantsla/
- facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CityPlantsLA/

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