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Step 1
Take part in a city sponsored adopt-a-tree volunteer program. For example, Redwood Falls has forged such a relationship with a provider of trees, and by printing and filling out a Tree Planting Application Form, you can adopt a tree in honor of a loved one, or simply request that one be planted in your name. The cost per tree is $150 for smaller and $300 for larger trees.
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Step 2
Expand your horizon when it comes to tree adoption, and instead adopt the whole park. Take, for example, Cottage Grove, which permits organizations to adopt a park. This lets members participate in at least two annual cleanup and beautification days. The program supports the efforts of the city’s staff, but it also allows organization members to care for the park, the plants and also the trees contained therein, and to take personal ownership of the local flora.
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Step 3
Help your child to find a tree he can informally adopt, and then journal about the experience. This educational activity from the Minnesota Department of Education ties your child’s attention to one specific tree of his choosing. He is asked to make notes about “his” tree with respect to any seasonal changes, animals he observes living on or around the tree, and also facts pertaining to the tree of his choice.
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Step 4
Join volunteer efforts to keep already planted city trees healthy. For example, Minneapolis is adding a bucket brigade volunteer effort to its adopt-a-tree endeavor. Citizens are urged to take symbolic ownership of a tree and water it during times identified as heat waves. This relieves the watering efforts the city must make and provides residents and their kids the opportunity to care for an informally adopted, special tree.
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Step 5
Become a community organizer and get your city or neighborhood to participate in the Minnesota Program set up by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Even as this is not a quintessential adopt-a-tree program in that it pairs one tree with one donor, it instead pulls together the community as a whole to provide for the overall health of the trees within its borders. Individual donors do so by contributing to a fund used for pest control. When such a community partnership is reached, contributions are matched by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This is an ongoing effort and residents can contribute to their adopted community trees repeatedly.
