Believe it or not, one of the best times to plant trees is late winter/early spring. Trees have a better chance of surviving if they are planted before the buds open in spring. Just before that, they break dormancy below ground with a surge of root growth, which typically coincides with a lot of moisture available from the melting snow/spring rain.

Early or mid-winter planting is not advised because the ground may be frozen over and frozen earth can't be dug or back-filled. If you've had the foresight to do all your digging  before the ground freezes, it's not impossible to plant trees in winter. But unless you can water them sufficiently, early-to-mid winter is not the best planting time. If you can't plant trees in the late winter/early spring, aim for autumn. Summer is a bad time because the weather is too hot and the actively growing trees will be susceptible to damage.

If you are interested in learning more about how to properly plant and care for trees, click here. Or if you want to put your knowledge to the test by joining NYRP for one of our many tree-planting volunteer events, click here.

This past fall NYRP planted 5,114 trees throughout the city's 5 boroughs as part of MillionTreesNYC.  As a result, 21 schoolyards now have 378 more trees, 25 New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) properties now have a grand total of 1,194 new leafy friends and many publicly accessible spaces and streets were greened in underdeveloped neighborhoods across NYC. As the nations most aggressive tree-planting initiative, MillionTreesNYC establishes the ambitious goal of planting and caring for 1 million new trees citywide. Our first two years have been very successful due to thousands of New Yorkers digging in to help green and beautify NYC. But it's going to take every New Yorker digging in to help us achieve our goal!

To learn how you can participate, click here. Don't have space to plant a tree but know somewhere that could use some greening?  Click here to tell us about a a tree planting opportunity near you.

On Saturday, January 9th and Sunday, January 10th, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation will host its annual MulchFest from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at locations citywide. Bring your holiday tree to one of 80+ designated parks to be recycled into mulch that can be used to nourish plantings in green spaces across the city or even in your own garden!

For more information about MulchFest and a list of sites in your borough, visit nyc.gov/parks/mulchfest.

Treecycle and help NYC grow!

Join The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) as they welcome some of the world’s premier landscape designers and garden and horticulture specialists. Natural landscapes, edible gardens and year-round gardening take center stage as NYBG’s speakers discuss cutting-edge trends and techniques.

Meet the speakers: Dan Pearson, Barbara Damrosch, Fritz Haeg

Register now!

The event will be held on the following Thursdays: January 21, February 18, March 25, 2010, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Location: Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall at NYBG

As a long-time friend and supporter of NYRP’s greening efforts, Fritz Haeg is a Los Angeles-based architect, artist, gardener and social designer that designed our Hudson Guild Edible Garden. Opened in September 2009, the Hudson Guild Garden was created to serve as a model for small-scale urban edible landscapes and as a prototype for future green spaces on public housing sites across New York City.

Ever since NYRP was founded almost 15 years ago, it has been our mission to provide every New Yorker with a healthy and thriving open space to use and enjoy. As such, NYRP fully supports community gardens and local greening efforts citywide. We’ve restored, re-designed, maintained and programmed more than half of the organization’s 55 community gardens located throughout New York City’s five boroughs. Our efforts have transformed neglected areas into vibrant green spaces where family and kids can experience nature and learn from our environmental education programs and community events, such as our gardening workshop series.

To learn more about our 55 community gardens click here.

To learn more about our edible estates click here.

Myron Kandel is proof that every little bit counts. Kandel is launching a one-man campaign to clean up New York City, called “Pick a Little Bit of Litter,” and he hopes to enlist every caring New Yorker to join his crusade.

His goal is to have all New Yorkers, both young and old, pick up at least one piece of litter each day and drop it in the nearest trash can. He says that "If a million people did that each day, just think how much cleaner the city would be." To read the complete article click here.

NYRP supports the efforts of every individual New Yorker to clean and green our city. If you are interested in helping NYRP beautify all five boroughs, visit NYRP's Volunteer Corps for more information on how you can help.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will introduce leaders from all over the world to the many environmental, economic and health benefits of MillionTreesNYC during the opening ceremony of the Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, scheduled for today and Tuesday. As part of the United Nations conference on climate change, the Mayors Summit will bring together political leaders from around the globe and will help to put cities on top of the world-wide climate agenda. Mayor Bloomberg is also scheduled to attend an ICLEI panel discussion for 100 mayors who are taking steps locally to address climate change.

MillionTreesNYC is a public-private partnership between the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and New York Restoration Project NYRP. As one of the 127 programs under the Mayor's PlaNYC initiative, MillionTreesNYC establishes the ambitious goal of planting and caring for one million new trees across the city's five boroughs by 2017. PlaNYC is a blueprint for the long-term sustainability of New York City. The plan means to set priorities for the refurbishment of city infrastructure.

New York is one of 10 cities (Los Angeles is the only other American one) to have been selected for an interactive exhibition called "Future City," highlighting local initiatives. In this exhibition, the City will outline its attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use in buildings to counter the effects of global warming.

To learn more about MillionTreesNYC click here.

NYRP Garden of Hope Designer, Ellie Cullman, has recently been named one of Architectural Digest's 100 top designers for 2009!

The AD 100 represents Architectural Digest's selection of top architects and interior designers, whose work has been featured in the magazine in the past several years.Cullman may be best known for Cullman & Kravis, the successful Madison Avenue interior design firm she founded in the early 1980s with best friend and fellow Brooklynite, the late Hedi Kravis.

In 2006, Cullman led the design and fundraising effort to restore NYRP's Garden of Hope in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, a project in honor of Ms. Kravis. Cullman joined forces with NYRP Founder Bette Midler and staff to create an innovative garden plan that features an open space for strolling, game tables and benches, and an area for community gatherings.

To learn more about Ellie Cullman's work, click here. To learn more about our Garden of Hope, click here.

On November 7th, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) distributed approximately 50 free trees to homeowners in St. Albans, Queens, as part of its new MillionTreesNYC “Put Down Roots” program. Created to encourage homeowners and private landowners to plant trees on their own front and backyards, the “Put Down Roots” program was launched in October, with volunteers canvassing homeowners within a 16-block radius to offer families free trees to plant.

As MillionTreesNYC enters the second phase of the initiative, NYRP and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation seek to expand on our initial success of mobilizing thousands of New Yorkers to plant and care for 250,000 young trees on streets, public housing developments and schoolyards, in parks and other public spaces across the five boroughs. “Put Down Roots” demonstrates a new, community-based approach to engaging New York City homeowners in greening their entire neighborhoods by encouraging them to first plant in their own yards and then spread these green roots throughout their community.

In celebration of the program launch, NYRP hosted a tree giveaway at the Daniel M. O’Connell  Playground, where twenty-five residents were introduced to their new, leafy neighbors. Volunteers were onsite to help transport trees to each property and staff from the Queens Botanical Garden and NYRP were available to answer any tree planting and care questions homeowners had. To assist them in their planting efforts, families were also provided with complimentary shovels, gloves and a soil amendment, as well as NYRP’s TreeLC Handbook – an easy-to-use guide to tree care and maintenance.

“Put Down Roots” is expected to expand to all five boroughs in spring 2010 – focusing on under-served neighborhoods with the lowest amount of tree canopy and large numbers of single-family homes. For more information about how you can get involved in MillionTreesNYC and help green your neighborhood, click here.

NYRP held its first Fall Gardeners’ Gathering on November 14th at the Museum of the City of New York. A huge success, the event brought together more than 100 of NYRP’s gardeners and community members to celebrate the harvest season by sharing culinary dishes made from ingredients mostly grown by participants in NYRP community gardens or on windowsills.

Focused on nutrition and healthy eating, the event engaged gardeners in discussions about the importance of sustainable food and using all-natural ingredients. Additionally, each participant received a nutritional guide that outlined healthy vegetables and fruits for a variety of seasonal dishes.

Highlights of the event included a presentation on tree care and MillionTreesNYC, an interactive quiz on NYC tree facts and a nutritious seasonal cooking demonstration for fall and winter dishes, led by Just Food Community Chef Margaret Schehl.Gardeners also participated in a cooking contest – judged by NYRP’s New Leaf Restaurant & Bar Executive Chef Scott Campbell – where they turned up the heat and put their culinary skills to the test. First prize winners included Lichiana Amigo, who prepared a savory Bacalo (Codfish) dish, and Jeralyn Beach, who shared her delicious fig bars.

To become a member of NYRP’s community gardener program, click here.

Citibank became a major sponsor of MillionTreesNYC this fall by committing $100,000 to green five Manhattan schoolyards and support NYRP’s environmental education program – RespecTree. NYRP Executive Director Drew Becher and NYC Parks Department Assistant Commissioner for PlaNYC Susan Donoghue joined CitiBank Manhattan Division Manager Bill Brown, Principal Carry Chan from the School for Global Leaders, NYRP staff and 22 6th graders to officially announce Citibank’s support of the initiative.

During the celebration, NYRP staff unveiled a rendering that illustrated how the schoolyard at the School for Global Leaders would be transformed by NYRP’s greening efforts. Additionally, NYRP’s education team led the students and Citibank executives on their first session of RespecTree  – a three-month, environmental education program that incorporates life and earth science standards and involves middle-school students in the planting and caring for a greener schoolyard.

“We are thrilled to partner with an organization [NYRP] that is doing such important work,” said Brad Dinsmore, head of retail banking, North America Consumer Banking, Citi. “Our promise to our customers and the communities we serve here is to continue to work alongside them and to help keep New York the best city in the world.”

As a result of CitiBank’s generous support, approximately 50 new trees were planted by students and NYRP staff this fall. During the 2009-2010 school year, NYRP will be introducing its RespecTree program in 20 schools citywide. If you are interested in sponsoring the greening of a schoolyard, please contact Kristin Dougherty, chief of development, at kdougherty@nyrp.org or 212.333.2552.