Trees for Watertown

05/26/2026

Check out how much Watertown's Lowell School Miyawaki Forest grew between May 2025 and May 2026. Is this beautiful, or what! Come visit to see for yourself! It's at the corner of Orchard Street and George Street.

Thank you to everyone who helped plant this baby forest in October 2024, and everyone who has been helping keep it w**ded, watered and protected in its first years!

There'll be another opportunity to help out on Sunday, May 31, when we'll be expanding part of the fence between 9 am and 3 pm. Would you like to join in for part of that time? See the comments for a link to a page where you can sign up for a particular block of time.

05/18/2026

FREE WORKSHOP SATURDAY, May 23, 11:30 am - 3:30 pm!
Make this the Spring you learn how to create a micro-forest!

A micro-forest is a community of cooling, habitat-rich, eventually self-sustaining native greenery, a very special kind of "pocket park".

Micro-forests grow rapidly, providing small urban oases of shade and beauty for humans, and food and shelter for native birds and animals. All these benefits help counteract the effects of living in a worsening "heat island."

Come learn how to create a micro-forest THIS SATURDAY! Micro-forest expert Luca of 1 Acre of Trees Nursery will teach us how to assess site conditions, select plants, and create a sustainable plant community. These are skills that can apply to private homes, communal spaces, and unused small parcels.

This special four-hour workshop will be at the Watertown Free Public Library. It is FREE! thanks to a supporting grant from the Bosch Community Fund to Trees for Watertown. But it's limited to 12 participants, so sign up TODAY.
Email [email protected] to register.

05/18/2026

Arbor Day Foundation message about how to know when it's time to water a tree, and how much. A great practical post!

05/10/2026

05/09/2026

Enjoy this excellent article about the benefits of urban microforests.

A special benefit comes from the community get-together to plant hundreds of tree seedlings in a day. As the article puts it: "These forests are built to have a relationship with humans.”

A link to this Spring 2026 Audubon article is in the comments below.

In pockets as small as a few parking lots, miniature forests can help cool cities, quiet streets, and give birds a place to land.

05/07/2026

Come enjoy EcoFest at the Commander's Mansion this Saturday! Trees for Watertown will be there and we'll be delighted to se you. ..and, or:
On Sunday, come admire Watertown's Miyawaki Forest at the Lowell School and help give this tiny forest some Spring care!

💙💙 Check out all the volunteer opportunities in May. Watertown Helps Out is a month of giving back to our community. Please spread the word. This is an excellent opportunity for high school students to get their community service hours.

Sign up at watertownfoundation.org

City of Watertown, MA - Events Team Trees for Watertown

05/07/2026

Come learn how to design and plant a beautiful micro-forest in your yard! Sign up for a FREE COURSE offered on Saturday, May 23, 11:30 to 3:30 pm, at the Watertown Free Public Library.

As our summers get hotter, city-dwellers are increasingly experiencing the effects of living in urban "heat island" areas. Micro-forests are an innovative way to bring habitat-rich, cooling greenery to neighborhoods suffering these effects.

Sponsored by Trees for Watertown thanks to support from the Bosch Community Foundation, this workshop is an opportunity to learn from an expert, Luca of 1 Acre of Trees Nursery, how to assess site conditions, choose plants, and design for shade, habitat, and sustainability!

Take advantage of this special one-time opportunity! This free workshop is LIMITED TO 12 PARTICIPANTS, so sign up soon! Email [email protected] to register.

Learn more at https://watertownlib.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/free-workshop-new-date-creating-community-one-micro-forest-at-a-time/

04/23/2026

Thinking of planting a shade tree in your yard, this Spring or next Fall? Please keep the importance of planting one of these species in mind.

The tree in your yard isn't just shade. It's the base of a food chain.

Nesting chickadees need a remarkable number of caterpillars to raise one clutch — far more than most people would guess. Native trees host those caterpillars. Most non-native ornamentals host very few. The difference between what you plant determines what can nest nearby.

🌿 Native trees ranked by how many caterpillar species they support:

- Oak — more caterpillar species than any other tree genus in North America. One mature oak supports more insect life than entire yards of non-native ornamentals

- Black cherry — the native cherry most people treat as a w**d tree. Its caterpillar load feeds more birds than most ornamental cherries planted in its place

- Willow — fast-growing, water-loving, and among the highest caterpillar hosts on the continent. Native willows outperform the common weeping willow hybrids by a wide margin

- Birch — white, river, and paper birch all rank in the top tier. The caterpillars feeding on birch foliage are primary food for warblers and chickadees during nesting season

- Poplar and cottonwood — the messy tree people complain about is one of the more important wildlife trees in the country. The cotton is a minor inconvenience. The ecological output is hard to replace

- Native maple — red maple and sugar maple, not the imported Norway maple that lines many suburban streets. Norway maple supports far fewer caterpillar species than its native counterparts

- Elm — American elm was the dominant street tree for good reason. Disease-resistant cultivars are returning and bringing the caterpillar community with them

- Hickory — slow-growing and long-lived. The nuts feed mammals. The foliage feeds caterpillars. The caterpillars feed birds. A complete food web in one tree

- Native pine — the evergreen people assume supports nothing because it doesn't flower. Pine-specialist caterpillars are important food for birds in winter and early spring when deciduous trees are bare

The tree you choose determines what can eat, nest, and raise young within reach of it 🌿

04/18/2026

A perfectly-executed message from Keeva Angstadt, Watertown resident and WINNER of the National Science Foundation's Cool Science 2025-2026 High School poster contest. Well done, Keeva!

Please join us in congratulating Keeva, an 11th grader from Watertown, MA as a Cool Science 2025-2026 High School Winner. According to Keeva, “urban trees disrupt heat islands." To see the rest of Keeva's artist statement, please visit: https://www.coolscience.net/massachusetts-honorees-20252026 Congratulations Keeva!