Friends of the Urban Forest makes it easy and affordable for San Franciscans to get new trees in front of their properties. Street trees beautify and improve neighborhoods, increase property values, reduce storm-water runoff, and clean the air (see more benefits here).
We pay most of the costs (see the pricing chart below). We also offer a limited number of free trees; to see whether you qualify, please contact Caitlin by phone at 415-268-0772 or by email with our contact form.
Planting in the Outer Sunset.
When you sign up for a tree, we provide all this:
- Check utilities to ensure no interference
- Cut and dispose of concrete from sidewalk
- Species recommendations by our arborists
- The TREE itself
- Hardware to support and protect the tree
- A volunteer planting crew to help you plant it
- New tree owner’s manual
- 18 months of tree care services
- Free one-year FUF membership
For a small additional charge, we also offer labor-saving watering bags that encircle trees and slowly water them, and wire mesh screens that provide extra protection to trees in risky locations.
The 45,000th tree planted by Friends of the Urban Forest, April 23, 2011. Photo by Cassandra Wages.
To request a tree, complete the form below.
We plant trees in any San Francisco neighborhood where at least 30 trees are requested. Plantings are community events that include neighborhood residents, volunteers and FUF staff. Plantings usually happen on Saturday mornings, and conclude with a potluck lunch for everyone involved.
If you want to help us spread the word in your neighborhood so the planting happens soon, we’ll show you how to be a Neighborhood Organizer (the first step is always a casual “happy hour” meeting in the neighborhood). To become a Neighborhood Organizer, complete the form below.
If you’re not able to order a street tree yourself, but you’d like to help plant them, see our Volunteer page.
Subsidized Tree Prices
Most of our tree planting costs are covered by grants and donations; only a small portion is paid by property owners, as described here.
Most Trees Price Fast Growers* Price
Initial tree planting price.
Includes two tree care visits during the first two years after planting
$135 per tree Initial tree planting price.
Includes three tree care visits during the first two years after planting
$180 per tree
Optional third tree care visit, approximately three years after planting – must be prepaid $65 Optional fourth tree care visit, approximately three years after planting – must be prepaid $65
Optional fourth tree care visit, approximately five years after planting – must be prepaid $75 Optional fifth tree care visit, approximately five years after planting – must be prepaid $75
*The “Fast Growers” prices apply when tree recipients choose the following fast-growing tree species, which require more frequent care when young in order to prevent overgrowth or structural problems:
- all Acacia species
- Australian Tea Tree (Leptospermum laevigatum)
- Brisbane Box (Lophostemon confertus/Tristania conferta)
- Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)
- all Eucalyptus species
- Locust tree (Robinia spp.)
- Peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa)
Review images and descriptions of the tree species we offer in our Urban Tree Species Directory.
We tell property owners how to get street trees and sidewalk gardens from FUF, and we enlist them as Neighborhood Organizers for upcoming plantings.
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