Replacing trees as they fail, buying what’s left at the nursery, and relying on reactions to build your urban forest isn’t really a plan. An urban forestry master plan is a much better, more strategic way to achieve your urban forestry goals while saving resources and helping you procure the right trees.
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“We’re not a big city, so it’s okay to do things on an as-needed basis.” For cities with a small staff, tight budgets, and fewer trees than big cities, this may seem like a plan, but the truth is that all of those “small” factors leave little room for costly mistakes.
Instead, every city should view municipal trees for what they are: long-term infrastructure. Think about all the things trees do for your community:
To get the most out of that investment, the trees need ongoing support in the form of watering, pruning, inspection, and, when the time comes, tree removal.
Without a plan, many cities fall into a cycle of waiting until maintenance is urgent and replacing trees only when they die. That often means whatever species is available from a wholesale nursery or reseller. That tree will fill the space, but is it the best option for a healthier urban forest?
Over time, buying just what’s available when you need it can create longer-term problems like:
The gist is this: being more mindful and strategic about your urban forest shifts your tree planning and procurement from reactive to intentional, with significant long-term impacts.
The truth is, you don’t need a massive forestry team or parks department to get started; you just need a clear idea of what you have, where you want to go, and a plan for procurement, planting, maintenance, and removal.
You might be thinking, “We don’t have an urban forest; we’re not a big city,” but if you’re responsible for municipal trees, you have an urban forest. The biggest difference between you and the bigger cities? It’s just the size of your team. The real big difference we see is not in city size but in city strategies.
We talk to a lot of cities stuck in a reactive mode rather than a strategic one. For example, when a tree falls in a city park, or a storm knocks down a few trees on a city street, you react. You call the nursery and ask, “What’s available to fill this hole?”
A master plan can turn “what’s available?” into a more thoughtful strategy that looks at the whole forest rather than individual projects. While you might still need to purchase a smaller amount of trees, you’ll have time to anticipate needs and reserve high-quality trees ahead of time– and ones that meet your canopy diversity goals.
Healthy tree procurement starts well before planting season, and well before you have an immediate need. Growers and wholesale nurseries often release their largest availability list months in advance (our biggest is in July!), and so when the emergency happens or when you place your bid, many of the trees are already spoken for. But if you have an urban forestry master plan, you’ve got the information you need to plan and buy in advance, far more strategically.
Healthy tree stock isn’t the only advantage. A city forestry master plan can also help:
The size of your plan will reflect the size of your city, so there’s no need to create a lengthy document no one will read or reference. Instead, you’ll create a practical, actionable plan that catalogs the city's trees, identifies canopy gaps, and provides information on maintenance plans and forest growth.
The goal of an urban forestry master plan is, first and foremost, to create a usable document. In other words, enough information for it to be valuable, guide decisions, help set priorities, and keep all tree goals moving, but not so detailed or bogged down that it becomes cumbersome to use. There’s little value in a document most folks won’t read.
That said, at a minimum, an urban forestry master plan needs the following four components.
It’s hard to build a roadmap if you don’t know where you’re heading. Imagine what stakeholders want the urban forest to look like in five, ten, or even twenty years. What you plant now will reach full maturity within that time period, so consider where you’d like to increase canopy cover or add shade in underserved areas.
You also want to consider how you can improve species diversity and reduce storm damage and its impacts while creating more inviting city parks and streets.
A word of caution here. Use the S.M.A.R.T. goals strategy. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. In other words, it’s not enough to say “We’ll plant more trees.” Instead, think “We’ll plant 50 diverse trees, including regionally adapted cultivars, for the next five years.” This way, you can track and monitor specific metrics and progress.
It’s hard to know where you need to go if you don’t know where you are. When it comes to your urban forest, a tree inventory helps you document the location, species, size, condition, and any maintenance/pruning needs of your municipal trees.
Your tree inventory is a living document that helps you track urban forest concerns so you can identify ongoing issues and needs, including:
The advantage here is that all this data can help you plan, prioritize, and track your progress over time.
Looking to learn more about tree inventories? Or how they can help you grow your tree budget?
Your urban forestry plan isn’t all about planting. Trees don’t stop needing care once they’re in the ground, and a thriving urban forest requires ongoing tree care and maintenance.
Long-term survivability depends on tree care, and so your master plan should include plans for watering, pruning, inspections, pest and disease monitoring, risk assessment, and, when the time comes, tree removal.
That said, it’s not enough to “list” these concerns without prioritizing tasks. Urgent tree conditions that need immediate resolution before concerns become more costly should be prioritized.
You’ll also want to look at what proactive and routine care can be scheduled. This way, your team (and volunteers, if needed) can address high-risk trees while ensuring young trees get the care they need.
For many, this is the fun part of the urban forestry plan– selecting and planting trees.
Your planting strategy should consider a few important factors. Of course, the first priority is identifying where trees are needed, but there’s quite a bit more to it. You’ll also want to consider what those trees will look like at full maturity as well as how they’ll round out age and species diversity.
Site conditions matter as well. Not every tree fits everywhere. Look at the site conditions and how they align with mature tree size, water availability, potential infrastructure obstacles, and your tree goals (shade, ornamental, wildlife attractors, fast-growing, drought-tolerant).
From there, it’s time for procurement. This is where working with a wholesale tree nursery and grower is one of the best options. When you’re asking: Where will our trees come from? When should we order? What’s available? What are the best choices for our gaps? It’s okay to get help.
As a wholesale tree nursery and grower, we can tell you that quality trees and in-demand, desirable species are planted and committed well before you plan to plant them (often years in advance). Working with a grower allows you to create a multi-year procurement schedule, and the partnership will be invaluable for species selection, quality standards, and improved access to available trees.
In short, there’s no more “I guess we’ll plant that” because it’s what’s available. Instead, you get high-quality trees adapted to your region, suited for the locations where you need them, and selected to fit your urban forestry goals. In the long run, this can save you valuable resources by reducing tree maintenance and replacement costs.
If you’ve read this far, this probably sounds like a lot and a big undertaking, especially if managing your urban forest is only part of your job. While we’re happy to help with the plan and procurement, we’d also like to be clear that your urban forestry plan doesn’t need to be perfect or complicated, especially not your very first one.
What your plan needs to do is give your city, regardless of size, a way to strategically assess your urban forest, understand your existing trees, set priorities, and make better (more budget-friendly) planting, procurement, and maintenance decisions.
This is your foundation. It’s hard to know what you need when you don’t know what you have. A tree inventory will help you identify what trees need attention (or removal), where canopy gaps are, and which species you should plant next to support canopy diversity and tree goals.
If the whole city seems daunting, make it a multi-year project and start with priority areas such as city parks, downtown streets, high-traffic corridors, public buildings, or areas where citizens or city staff have reported tree concerns.
The inventory should record:
Using GIS mapping and professional assessments from certified arborists can make your tree inventory more valuable, but starting with something basic, like a spreadsheet, is better than relying on collective memory, scattered team notes, or just one person who seems to know.
With your new tree inventory (or updated one), you can now choose your longer-term goals. They should reflect both the community's and the forest's needs while remaining achievable with your existing team and budget.
City parks, streets, and public space: Each of these spaces is unique. Some may have limited space while others may have compromised soil, reflected heat, or restricted rooting space. Take the microclimates into consideration. Remember: right tree, right place.
Monocultures can create unnecessary risks and increase vulnerability to tree pests and diseases. Carefully review your tree inventory for species that are overrepresented, stands that are aging, and where you have potential monocultures or species that are vulnerable to tree diseases and pests, drought, or extreme weather.
From this review, you can begin creating a list of preferred species well-suited to your city. Working with a wholesale nursery grower can really help here as they’ll have a good sense of what will work for you, in the places you need to plant.
They can help you find trees of different sizes, growth rates, functions, and visual appeal. You may also, at this time, create a list of suitable substitutions so if something isn’t available, you can quickly pivot to what is.
Let’s be honest. This plan only works if you can get the trees you want. If you wait until planting season, many in-demand and popular species and sizes will already be committed to other cities. This is just another benefit of contracting with a wholesale nursery grower– you can lock in some of your list well in advance.
Start by translating your goals, both short- and long-term, into quantities, sizes, species, planting locations, and the timing for when you’ll need trees delivered.
Tree procurement timing: Review availability lists from wholesale nurseries early and work with nursery partners to solidify your needs before bids and planting schedules are finalized. Early planning means you have more options and more flexibility.
Work with a wholesale nursery and grower: Not only does this relationship ensure you get availability lists early or regularly, allowing you to plan, but they can also help you plan for multi-year projects, find suitable substitutes, and plant for your future.
For cities, this relationship can be invaluable, as our team can help you connect your inventory to your planting goals, identify production needs, and find cultivars or species that are not only suitable but also add value to your municipal landscapes.
Include tree standards in your master tree plan- Whether you have a limited budget or not, but especially when you do, tree quality is paramount. Sourcing trees from anywhere without tree-quality standards can be a recipe for disaster, leading to increased maintenance needs and, in the worst cases, the removal of unsuitable or unhealthy trees.
You’ll want to look at root quality, structure, trunk condition, size, labeling, handling, and delivery. For example, we grow with air pots to ensure healthy, dense, and fibrous root balls. We also switch from a curtain truck to a climate-controlled truck during hotter months to ensure trees arrive healthy. You want to work with a grower or wholesale nursery who’s ensuring quality every step of the way, from the nursery to your city.
One of the biggest mistakes cities make is neglecting tree care and maintenance. Including it in your plan ensures that all trees get the care they need, not just to survive but to thrive. Throughout their lifecycle, trees have different needs, so factoring this in is essential.
Young and newly planted trees: Let’s start with watering. These trees will need supplemental watering, and your irrigation schedule likely won't cut it. You’ll want to make sure they’re getting enough water, mulch them, and stake and prune as needed. Regular inspections can ensure they’re staying healthy. Planting new trees is fun and exciting. Planting more trees than you can realistically care for is an expensive disaster.
Structural Pruning: Most cities don’t include structural pruning for a few years, but it should start when trees are young. This helps prevent weak branch attachments, competing leaders, and poor form, all of which become much bigger (and more expensive) problems later on.
During establishment years, schedule regular inspections and structural pruning to guide the tree’s development. This will help it grow a strong central leader and well-spaced branches while also ensuring enough clearance from nearby infrastructure.
Pruning, risk management, and removal: Older trees need care too. Pruning keeps them healthy and reduces risks when storms come through. Plan pruning cycles and inspections for older trees too. Those inspections can help identify trees nearing the end of their lifecycle and can help you avoid replacing an aging tree population all at once.
For cities, budgeting can be the most difficult part. Tree inventories can certainly help you make the case for expanding your budget and justifying the expenses for proper tree care, which will save you in the long run. Remember to plan for the whole program, not just procurement.
Budget for the full tree lifecycle: Trees need care at every age; it’s just the type and level of care they need. Young trees need help establishing (a lot of watering), mature trees need pruning and inspections for potential problems, and trees in decline will eventually need removal and replacement. Budgeting only for procurement or young tree care will, ultimately, leave your urban forest vulnerable.
Plan multi-year projects- If you look at the urban forest as a whole and try to address all the concerns at once, you’ll easily be overwhelmed, regardless of the size of your city or your urban forest. Instead, split larger goals into annual plans. The advantage here is that multi-year planning is more budget- and resource-friendly and can help you coordinate with other investments like street and park improvements,
What’s a plan without a way to pay for it? Often, many teams hesitate to create a larger plan because there’s no budget to cover it. But what if a strong plan provided you with the data you need to explain what the city needs, how much it will cost, and what the costs/realities are of not following the plan?
Your tree inventory can be invaluable in helping you both determine and increase your budget. Depending on local policies, you might have multiple funding sources, including:
Operating Budget: Your annual operating budget should cover recurring expenses such as watering, inspections, routine pruning, inventory updates, pest monitoring, training, and overall maintenance, including vendor or contractor costs. Because you can include actual costs here, the expense is justified. While you may not get every dollar you ask for, you won’t get any money you don’t ask for and can’t demonstrate the need for.
Capital Improvement Budget: If your urban forest has been neglected, a one-time capital investment may help manage a backlog of hazardous trees, major pruning projects, removals and replacements, a tree inventory, soil mitigation, or major projects needed to bring it back to health. The benefit here is that you catch up, making continued care and maintenance easier to manage. Remember, your trees are infrastructure and should be included in those city conversations.
Tree Mitigation Funds: Many cities require developers and property owners to replace protected trees removed during construction projects. If they are unable to replace the trees, some cities require funds to be placed into a mitigation fund, often based on a per-tree or per-inch-of-trunk-diameter basis.
Those funds can then be used by the city to support urban forestry projects including procurement, planting, restoration, or even maintenance and pruning. In your master plan, include information about what the city requires for the use of those funds.
Forestry Grants: State forestry agencies are an excellent place to look for opportunities supported by state and federal programs. Often these go to support urban and community forestry projects. However, they’re not the only ones!
You can also look into a variety of other regional agencies, utilities, foundations, and other non-profit partners who are looking to fund specific projects or types of projects. These funds are incredibly useful for inventories, planning, planting, education, and clearly defined multi-year or phase projects.
A word of caution: Read grant requirements carefully; some grants require matching funds. Also, grants do not replace the budget process. These funds should be viewed as a supplement to help support one-time (even multi-phase) projects rather than your operating expenses.
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A plan is nothing until you put it into action. That means assigning roles and responsibilities, creating timelines, and treating your master plan like a living document– reviewing and adjusting as needed.
Your tree inventory should be updated yearly to reflect changes in tree health and status, including adding in newly planted trees and updating procurement for those that have been removed.
This also means communicating with your tree source so they can help you meet procurement needs, choose substitutions, and assist with species selection. Whether you’re starting from scratch, getting ahead, or establishing a plan after years of reactive planting, a master plan can help restore order and health to your urban forest.
Sometimes it’s easy to avoid a task when we’re worried about the mistakes we might make, but waiting to create a plan and strategy is also a mistake. It’s also fair to worry about creating another document that sits untouched and consider how your time could be better used.
And yet, an urban forestry master plan can make your job easier and your city forest healthier. Here are a few common mistakes that can help you start your plan and put it into action.
All things considered, the biggest mistake cities make is waiting. Don’t put this off until you have more time, a bigger staff, or more money in the budget. In fact, a great plan can help you build and achieve those things. Start with what you have and make strategic decisions from there.
If you’re looking for a more strategic and cost-effective way to maintain your municipal trees, then an urban forestry master plan is a smart place to start. It functions as a roadmap for stakeholders to understand the vision and how city teams can make it happen.
Our certified arborists love working with cities to help them build urban forests tailored to their unique needs. We work to connect your plan to production and procurement while offering expertise in species selection to help you get ahead of planting season.
In addition to sending out a monthly availability list, we contract to grow trees for cities, helping ensure the trees they want go into production and that multi-year projects have the trees they need.
Whether you’re writing your first urban forestry master plan or adding structure to an existing or inherited plan, let’s talk. Reach out to our team today!
We’re here to help you plan earlier, procure healthier trees, and grow a more diverse urban forest.