Worcester Tree Initiative:
an Independent Program of Tower Hill Botanic Garden
Our Mission: Rebuilding Worcester County's Community Forests

Our organization exists to grow, care for, and protect Worcester County's urban and town forests. Our community based approach includes education, training, tree planting, and long term monitoring and care to achieve significant improvements to the environment and to the quality of life in our cities and towns. 

For more information read Our Story.

Flowering Tree and Shrub Pruning Training

The first of our two opportunities to learn about pruning flowering trees and shrubs was at Dodge Park on Saturday, June 16th and it was a great group of people with varying levels of skill and a wide variety of reasons for coming to learn. It was a great workshop and I'm looking forward to the next.

Our second opportunity to learn is next week at Tower Hill, on Wednesday, June 27th, from 10am-Noon. If you want to learn the do it yourself skills you need to properly care for your flowering trees and shrubs this training will equip you with the essential skills.

Registration is required and the registration links can be found on our Upcoming Events Page.

Calling for Planting Projects

As we continue our work to grow the urban and community forest in Worcester and beyond we are looking for planting projects that will have benefits for communities and neighborhoods. Whether it's neighborhood street tree planting, improving and island/median, planting in a park, or revitalizing an abandoned space, we are inviting groups to propose planting projects to us. 

A great example of the kinds of projects we're looking for is one we did in Boylston this spring. Most of the trees in a neighborhood median had died leaving the residents with no virtually no street trees. A neighbor reached out to us asking for six trees and worked with the town to get the planting approved. Another neighbor came to pick up the trees and brought them to the planting site. Then, the organizer's family came out to help plant and are now caring for the trees.

​Project proposals can be submitted through a form we've created specifically for this purpose. This proposal will make us aware of your interest, give us an idea of what your project entails, and who to reach out to for more information.

It Takes a City to Build a Forest

Growing an urban forest is hard work. Lack of space, poor growing conditions, and damage done by people, both accidentally and intentionally, make cities and towns tough places to grow trees, but in our view, it's not optional. We wouldn't want to live in a city without trees and we doubt you would either.

That's why we're asking you to consider supporting our efforts. We work to rebuild Worcester's urban forest and ensure that it is healthy, well cared for, and equitably distributed. We need your help to ensure that this work is carried out. You can do this in a lot of ways, from volunteering to donating; learn more by clicking below.

Steering Committee

Founders:

Congressman Jim McGovern
Tim Murray; President/CEO, Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce 
Co-Chairs:   

Mary Knittle
State Representative Jim O'Day  
Jordan Levy  
Members:
Paul Belsito
Deb Cary
Senate President Harriette Chandler
Andy Davis
Margaret Doyle
Grace Elton, CEO, Tower Hill Botanic Garden
Tony Enonomou
Steve Fischer
Allen Fletcher
School Committee Member Jack Foley
Margaret Guzman
Robyn Kennedy
State Senator Michael Moore
Paul Moosey, Commissioner, Dept. of Public Works, Worcester
Marie Morse
​Colin Novick
Joe O'Brien
Selectman Ken O'Brien
Kevin O'Sullivan
Chris Philbin
Kathleen Polanowicz 
Selectman Chris Rucho
City Councilor Matthew Wally

Thank You to Our Partners & Sponsors
You can see the whole list on our Partners and Sponsors page. 
Worcester Tree Initiative. An Independent Program of Tower Hill Botanic Garden.
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