The Giving Tree
Free trees that help save the world
Words by Jessi Devenyns Illustration by Lydia Starkey
What’s better than a tree extending its limbs to offer shade under the soft rustle of its foliage? A tree that also provides food.
“One of the things I love about East Austin is it’s an older community [with] huge mature fruit trees that you don’t really see anywhere else,” says Thais Perkins, Executive Director of Tree Folks. “You have Satsuma trees that tower over houses. You have a secret avocado tree that’s bigger than any avocado tree I’ve seen around because it’s in a special spot.” She also loves trees for the environmental and human benefits that they offer the community.
In hopes of growing the urban forest that is struggling in the face of development, Tree Folks gives away 4,600 5-gallon trees each year. The only problem is actually persuading folks that the trees are really free. Thais laughs as she explains, “We spend a ton of time convincing people that it’s actually free.” It’s hard to believe that people would doubt the generosity of a non-profit dedicated to adding a little extra foliage to Austin’s canopy in order to help reduce the effects of global warming, mitigate the heat island effect that comes along with urban development, and give Austinites a little more greenery to lift their mood. However, perhaps it’s because Tree Folks doesn’t simply drop a plant on front porches and wish a person well.
Along with free tree home delivery, Tree Folks offers consultations to determine which of their 20 native and adapted trees are best for the home owner’s yard and the best spot to plant the tree and will educate consumers on how to care for it. They even extend digging services to help get the tree into the ground. The only catch is the homeowner must to agree to water the tree for two years and be within the Austin Energy service area. Called the Neighborwoods program, Thais describes the intent behind the program’s intimate involvement with homeowners. “Those tree giveaways are coupled with one-on-one consults and education because a free tree with no education equals a dead tree.”
Since there are only 4,600 trees to go around and just over two million people in Austin, there is obviously not enough to fill every yard. The solution, however, is every year Tree Folks hosts a giveaway where they offer thousands of saplings to attendees, again completely free. “It’s really fun,” exclaims Thais. “People show up really early in the morning, in the dark, wrapped in sleeping bags” to claim their tree.
For 30 years, this organization has ascribed to the belief that one more tree in the ground is one step closer to improving the environment. Regardless if it’s mitigating fire damage, reducing the heat island effect of development, or merely adding some beauty to a backyard, they believe in educating the public about the available options to make positive changes in the environment. Thais suggests one should “look for opportunities to plant trees in their yard, and we have free trees for that.”
Get Your Own
To participate in the Neighborwoods program, sign up on the online waitlist and wait to be selected which will be during the very best planting season for Central Texas, October 1—March 31.
Know More
Tree Folks offers educational classes to teach about urban forests and their importance to the health of a city and its population. The Urban Forest Stewardship course teaches Central Texans to advocate for the forests in their communities and wildlands through classroom, experiential, and service learning.
Contact
(512) 443-LEAF (5323)
admin@treefolks.org
treefolks.org
