People for Trees
Reforesting Northeast Ohio

Holden Forests & Gardens is proud to announce that the People for Trees campaign has successfully reached its goal of planting and pledging 15,000 trees across Northeast Ohio over the past five years.

Launched in 2021 as a movement to take action in reforesting urban and suburban areas, the campaign has garnered widespread support, reinforcing the importance of trees in enhancing air quality, mitigating climate change, and improving overall community well-being. The campaign has empowered thousands of individuals to pledge tree plantings, strengthening Northeast Ohio’s urban and suburban forests.
Thank you to all of our volunteers, pledgers and partners for making People for Trees a success!

Why did you decide to get involved with People for Trees?
Pat Biliter
I could not help but notice NE Ohio’s tree canopy gradually disappearing. HF&G’s initiative offers friendly, scientifically based advice to landowners who want to plant more trees, who might mistakenly remove ecologically valuable native trees, or who simply want to replace the trees in their yards.

Why are trees important to you?
Chris Lakus
Simple answer is just that trees are the answer: they cool the air, provide oxygen, reduce carbon and erosion, are calming to neighborhoods – and are just plain beautiful.

What is your favorite tree or plant?
Aquene Kimmel
My favorite plant is a pink begonia that I found abandoned in a plastic cup in college and have now had for over a decade. I also have a little baby buckeye tree that I planted in my yard, and I’m so proud every year when it gets its new leaves.
People for Trees partners:
All by Design
Avon-on-the-Lake Garden Club
Bainbridge Township
BarrioBoy Community Garden
Bartlett Tree Experts
Beaumont Boy Scouts
Bedford Heights Community Garden
Bicknell Fund
Burten, Bell, Carr
Case Western Reserve University
Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland
City of Bainbridge
City of Bay Village
City of Cleveland
Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Comite Mexicano
Community Roots
Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority
Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District
Detroit Shoreway
Doan Brook Watershed Partnership
Eagle Scout Kenji Scott
Eagle Scout Nathaniel Tisch
Eaton Charitable Foundation
Enbridge Gas Ohio
Euclid Shade Tree Commission
Fleet Response
FoodStrong
Friends of Heights Parks
Friends of Lower Lake
Gates Mills Land Conservancy
Geauga County Soil & Water Conservation District
Heights Tree People
Hessler Neighborhood Association
Home Repair Resource Center
James Ford Rhodes High School (JOT planting)
Journey on Yonder
Lake Catholic High School
Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District
Lake Erie College
Madison Garden Club
McKinsey & Company
Mentor Public Library
MidTown Cleveland
Midwest Husbands LLC
Miss Buckeye State
National Urban Forestry Portfolio
Neighborly Tree Care
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Northwest Neighborhoods
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation
Otherhand Farm
Oxford Risk LLC
Painesville Lions Club
Rooted in Trees
Rotary District 6650
Slavic Village Development Corporation
The Cleveland Foundation
The Town & Country Garden Club of Cleveland
Tinker’s Creek Watershed Partners
Town & Country Garden Club
University Circle Inc.
University Hospital
University Hospitals
Village of Kirtland Hills
Westlake Garden Club
Weston Inc.