2,000 Trees Find Homes Through the 2023 Yard Tree Giveaway

2023 Yard Tree Giveaway in Review

Thanks to Portlanders across the city, more than 2,000 trees were planted in 2023 through the Urban Forestry’s Yard Tree Giveaway! This city program focuses on making trees accessible to people who want to plant on private property.

So where did the trees go?  

Check out this heat map, which shows the distribution of 2023 yard trees across the city. The hotter the colors, the more trees went to that area!

Trees were planted in nearly every neighborhood with some large clusters in North, Northeast, and East Portland.

The neighborhoods that received the most trees:

• Powellhurst Gilbert –  221 Trees
• Lents – 160 Trees
• Hazelwood – 145 Trees
• Cully – 133 Trees
• Piedmont – 75 Trees
• Mill Park – 64 Trees
   

While all Portland neighborhoods can benefit from more trees, it is crucial to plant trees in areas where they are needed most. Median household income, tree canopy cover, and proportion of residents of color are used to identify Urban Forestry priority planting areas.

Priority Neighborhoods

It was a great success that the top six neighborhoods (listed above) are all Urban Forestry Tree Planting Priority Neighborhoods.

To be most accessible to these areas, the Yard Tree Giveaway held six pick up events in and near priority neighborhoods, and free delivery was offered to the priority neighborhoods of Bridgeton, Cully, East Columbia, Humboldt, Piedmont, Powellhurst Gilbert, and Woodlawn.

Yard Tree Giveaway by the numbers:

• Urban Forestry staff delivered 415 trees and planted 116 trees for folks who needed an accommodation.  
• 76% of the trees given away in 2023 fell into at least one of the three categories: large growing, evergreen, or native. Check out the full list of tree species here.
• 8,800 trees have been given away over the course of the program.

Thank you to everyone who has planted and cared for these trees. You are helping to make Portland a greener, more livable place for us all!

Interested in getting a tree for your yard at the next giveaway? Click here to get a reminder email once registration opens.