Grow Back Together
Recruiting local residents as tree guardians and planting street trees in areas of high climate risk
Community-Driven Urban Tree Planting and Long-term Care
Launched 2023
Background
Launched in 2023 and funded through the Mayor of London’s Grow Back Greener award, the ‘Grow Back Together’ initiative exemplifies collaborative urban tree planting and community stewardship. Led by Greentalk in partnership with Street Trees for Living (STfL) and the London Borough of Lewisham, the project strategically identified and filled vacant tree pits in high climate risk areas while fostering community engagement in tree care.
Key Achievements
Community Engagement - Successfully recruited nearly 100 new Tree Guardians, including residents from low socioeconomic areas, promoting inclusivity in urban greening efforts.
Strategic Tree Planting - Planted 94 full-sized street trees throughout Lewisham, targeting 83 in high climate risk zones and 60 in areas with very low, 5-10%, canopy cover.
Innovative Recruitment Approach - Utilized a guerrilla marketing campaign featuring spray-painted QR codes on pavements near vacant tree pits, leading residents to an easy sign-up process via the Greentalk platform.
Sustained Tree Care - Established a three-year tree adoption program, ensuring ongoing community-led maintenance and reducing tree mortality rates.
Impact
Societal - Expanded tree stewardship beyond wealthier neighborhoods, empowering diverse communities with knowledge of tree care and environmental benefits.
Economic - Achieved significant cost savings by reducing tree mortality rates from ~35% to just 2%.
Environmental - Strengthened urban resilience by targeting tree planting in climate-vulnerable areas, enhancing canopy cover, and improving local biodiversity.
Enhanced Stewardship through Technology
Greentalk actively supports Tree Guardians in maintaining newly planted trees. To optimize watering efforts, Greentalk’s intelligent watering alert system is deployed. This system will react to real-time weather conditions, notifying Tree Guardians when trees require watering and allowing them to report the quantity of water provided. Additionally, tree assessments will enable ongoing monitoring, helping project administrators efficiently target necessary interventions.
Greentalk has also developed user-friendly technology to streamline tree planting logistics. This includes identifying and managing vacant tree pit locations, linking resident applications, canvassing local areas, and providing an internal back-end system for tree contractors to report progress on digging pits, staking, and planting trees. Throughout the process, Tree Guardians remain informed and engaged.
Collaboration & Innovation
The success of Grow Back Together stemmed from a highly collaborative approach. Lewisham Council conducted on-street surveys to validate tree pit locations and suitable species, while Greentalk integrated data-driven decision-making and user-friendly digital solutions. The project also adapted its systems to accommodate third-party contractors, ensuring efficient tracking of tree types and planting activities.
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