Tree Planting Program

Everyone deserves shade.

At LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN), our Tree Planting Program helps create cooler, healthier, and more vibrant communities by bringing street trees to neighborhoods that need them most.  

Low-canopy communities across the City of Los Angeles often face higher levels of air pollution and extreme heat. To ensure every neighborhood benefits from a greener landscape, we prioritize planting around schools, community centers, and major walking or transit corridors. Adding street trees cleans our air, provides essential shade, beautifies local streets, and supports LA's rich urban ecosystem.

Planting trees provides immediate health, climate, and economic advantages for Angelenos:  

• Cleaner Air and Water: Trees act as natural air filters by capturing fine particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$), ozone ($O_3$), and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$). They also manage stormwater runoff, preventing localized flooding while replenishing local groundwater supplies.  
• Cooling and Climate Action: Tree canopies cool pavement and buildings, reducing the urban heat island effect during dangerous summer heat waves. This lowers cooling costs for homes, reduces energy grid demand, and sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide ($CO_2$).  
• Healthier Neighborhoods: Shaded sidewalks encourage walking, biking, and outdoor recreation, boosting mental well-being and overall public health.  
• Ecosystem and Local Economy: Trees provide vital shelter and food for birds, bees, and local wildlife while creating inviting commercial corridors that support local businesses.  

Our urban forestry efforts are made possible through competitive state and federal grants that bring vital resources directly into Los Angeles neighborhoods. Grant funding allows us to cut through solid concrete in parkways, create new tree wells, plant young trees, provide multi-year watering and care, and engage local residents.  

To date, LASAN has removed over 3 acres of concrete in hard-to-green communities. Recent major funding includes a grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program for the BeLeaf in Equity project, which focuses on planting perimeter trees around highway-adjacent schools in underserved areas. Other grants focus on shading essential walking routes to neighborhood markets, laundromats, and transit stops.  

Our Tree Team actively engages residents through free public outreach programs and community events. Trees play a critical role in our city's infrastructure, and our public events empower residents to take part in greening their own neighborhoods.  

Arbor Day LA
Join LASAN, our planting partners, and fellow Angelenos for LA's annual Arbor Day celebration! This free family event features hands-on science exhibits, craft projects, tree planting demonstrations, and free 5-gallon trees for residents to take home and plant in their yards.

Building a healthy urban forest takes citywide teamwork. LASAN works closely with funding agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA).  

Our key local implementation partners include:  

• StreetsLA (Bureau of Street Services)  
• City Plants  
• Los Angeles Conservation Corps  
• Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC)  
• North East Trees  
• Los Angeles Beautification Team

For routine street tree maintenance, pruning, tree removal, stump grinding, permits, or sidewalk repair concerns, please contact our sister agency, the Bureau of Street Services (StreetsLA) Urban Forestry Division, at 1-800-996-2489 or submit a request through MyLA311.

Have questions or want to learn how to bring trees to your street? Reach out to the LASAN Tree Team via email at san.trees@lacity.org.