Branch Out Sunnyvale is coming to your neighborhood!
SUFA is proud to announce Branch Out Sunnyvale, a new program to increase our urban canopy by helping residents to plant trees on their private property.
The City of Sunnyvale has allocated funds to subsidize 50 private trees. To cover the cost of the tree selection, tree, and planting, the resident will pay $50 and the city will pay the rest. This level of service would typically cost about $350, so this is quite a bargain. The city has partnered with SUFA and Our City Forest (of San Jose) to implement the program.
To participate, the homeowner will visit the program website, fill out an application, and pay the $50 fee. Our City Forest will communicate with the homeowner to discuss tree selection (based on location and size), provide the tree, plant the tree, and educate the homeowner on care of the tree. Sunnyvale will reimburse Our City Forest for the trees that have been planted.
The Sunnyvale Urban Forest Advocates has been actively involved in creating this private tree planting program. SUFA has met with Our City Forest, Sunnyvale staff, and City Council over several years to promote this program and to discuss logistics and funding. The Sunnyvale Parks Department submitted the proposal to City Council, which was approved in February 2021. The city has taken the lead on implementation and will handle the coordination with Our City Forest. SUFA is excited about this partnership and is happy that the city is taking steps to increase our urban forest by providing both public and private trees.
The first Branch Out Sunnyvale planting took place in May 2021, with several more trees planted in the Spring. The next plantings will be scheduled for Fall and Spring.
Happy Planting.
Visit http://www.ourcityforest.org/sunnyvale for more information and the application.
The list of trees that will be considered can be found below. The list may have been updated since its publication in February 2021.
Branch Out Sunnyvale Tree List Spring 2021