Maintenance is critical to the long-term success of all greening projects.  In the arid local climate, tree-planting projects in particular require sustained care to succeed.  Too many plantings in the L.A. region end in failure due to a lack of dedicated maintenance.  As a result, with every project we undertake regularly scheduled watering, re-staking, pruning, and weeding are built into the budget.  

Community tree-planting with KYCC

We currently partner with The Korean Youth & Community Center Environmental Services (KYCC) for maintenance.  KYCC is not only one of LA’s largest greening organizations, but also provides pre and after school education, prevention education, affordable housing, and mental health and economic development services to the community. IDG and KYCC work together to track the trees' health and efficiently allocate maintenance resources where they are most needed.

 KYCC maintenance crew watering Arts District tree

To better manage our nascent urban forest, IDG uses Plan-It GEO tree-plotting software, a geospatial cloud-based tool for managing urban forests.  The technology has allowed us to move from spreadsheets to a database in the cloud making tree data management more efficient and robust while streamlining planting and maintenance operations.  In time, the system will also afford us a wealth of tree data with which to better understand our forest.  This will allow us to determine how different sizes and species of trees do in differing soil and lighting conditions.  Given the difficult conditions our trees often endure, a better understanding of key local variables affecting the survivability of our trees will be invaluable.

Plan-It GEO tree-plotting software

Chrysalis Enterprises, a local organization which seeks to provide job skills to formerly homeless individuals, partnered with us in the establishment of our tree maintenance program and also taught us much about working with the community.  We feel lucky to have had the support and encouragement of Chrysalis and appreciative of their efforts in starting us off on the right foot.

Community Tree-Planting with Chrysalis