TreeBaltimore
Baltimore, Maryland, United States · Government program · Local · since 2007
Baltimore City's mayoral tree initiative giving away free yard trees and coordinating plantings toward a 40% canopy
About
TreeBaltimore is a mayoral initiative led by the Forestry Division of Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, and the umbrella under which city agencies, nonprofits and residents plant and care for trees toward a 40 percent citywide canopy goal. It hands out free one-gallon yard trees to city residents at adoption events every spring and fall, plants and maintains street and park trees on request, and trains volunteer TreeKeepers to prune and care for young public trees. Its community calendar also lists partner plantings run by groups such as Blue Water Baltimore and Baltimore Tree Trust.
What they run
Free one-gallon native trees for Baltimore City residents to plant in their yards, pre-registered online and picked up at adoption events held every spring and fall (up to three trees per household); neighborhood groups can also host their own giveaways.
Residents request street trees for the public right-of-way in front of their homes, or approval and trees to plant on park land themselves; the Forestry Division plants and maintains the trees.
Volunteer training and certification program (introduction to tree pruning plus field sessions) that equips residents to prune and report on young public trees.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trees planted | 2020 | 4,776 | Organization-wide | Estimated | sourceDerived: sum of the 55 Community Statistical Area values in the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance 'Treeplnt' feature service (number of trees planted annually by the TreeBaltimore program), field treeplnt20. Yearly sums: 2013 4,900; 2014 5,175; 2015 4,410; 2016 3,207; 2017 2,989; 2018 1,980; 2019 3,355; 2020 4,776. The series ends in 2020. |
| Trees planted | 2023 | 4,700 | Organization-wide | Estimated | sourceSame budget performance measure ('Increase the Tree Canopy Citywide'), Fiscal 2023 actual 4,700; interpreted as trees planted by Service 654 Urban Forestry in FY2023 (July 2022 - June 2023). |
| Trees planted | 2024 | 5,846 | Organization-wide | Estimated | sourceCity of Baltimore Fiscal 2026 Agency Detail Vol. II, Recreation and Parks, Service 654 Urban Forestry, performance measure 'Increase the Tree Canopy Citywide': Fiscal 2024 actual 5,846 (Fiscal 2022 actual 4,300, Fiscal 2023 actual 4,700, Fiscal 2025 and 2026 targets 7,000). The measure is a count whose unit is not labelled in the budget book; interpreted here as trees planted by the Urban Forestry service in FY2024 (July 2023 - June 2024). |
| Trees planted | 2026 | 8,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceBaltimore City Recreation and Parks Forestry page: 'Plants 8,000 new trees yearly with volunteers' (accessed Nov 2026; a standing annual figure, not a count for a named year) |
How they report
What earned it
- 20/20 Publishes annual tree figures: 4 years of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)
- 15/15 Figures are recent: Latest annual figure is for 2026
- 10/10 Every figure has a public source: 4 of 4 figures link to a source
- 0/15 Publishes financials or cost per tree: No financial figure recorded
- 0/15 Reports survival or monitoring: No survival or monitoring figure
- 0/10 Independently verified figure: All figures are the organization's own
- 4/10 Breaks figures down by program: Programs named, figures not broken out
- 5/5 Reports volunteers or events: Public events listed
- Latest annual figure
- 8,000 trees in 2026
- Compare
- Put TreeBaltimore next to others · method
Upcoming events
- Blue Water Baltimore Howard Park plantingRegisterWed, Nov 11, 2026, 11:00 AM EST · Volunteer planting · Baltimore
- Mount Vernon Tree PlantingRegisterSat, Nov 14, 2026, 9:00 AM EST · Volunteer planting · Baltimore
- GRIA and Wyman Park Dell Community Tree PlantingRegisterSat, Nov 14, 2026, 10:00 AM EST · Volunteer planting · Baltimore
- TreeKeepers: Introduction to Tree Pruning and Field SessionRegisterSat, Dec 5, 2026, 10:00 AM EST · Training / workshop · Baltimore
- Maryland Arbor DayWed, Apr 7, 2027, 9:00 AM EDT · Other · Baltimore