By By Caitlin Coyle, News Correspondent

Members of local organization Grow Boston Greener plan to give away a round of trees to Boston residents May 2, part of their quest to increase the tree canopy by 100,000 by 2020.
In an effort to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions in the city, Grow Boston Greener has partnered with the city of Boston and Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition (BUFC).
Two summers ago, Gretchen Folk, the coordinator of Grow Boston Greener, set out to count the number of trees throughout Boston. With the help of thermal imaging and hundreds of volunteers, Folk found there were only about 35,000 trees in Boston. The number was surprisingly small for a city with an estimated 581,616 people, Folk said. She initiated the tree-planting campaign with the hope of improving the well-being, health and comfort of Boston residents.
Since the summer of 2006, Grow Boston Greener has given residents 4,000 trees to plant and care for.
‘You can’t walk away from your tree,’ Folk said.
One of the most important aspects of this campaign is to make sure that every planted tree will be taken care of for an extended period of time, Folk said.
Folk said 20 percent of the trees, or about 20,000, will be on public land, including in Dorchester, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, while 60 percent will have to be planted on private land. The types of trees are New England-native species that do well in urban settings, like beech, birch, oak, maple and elm.
‘Each season eight to 12 new species are planted ‘hellip; adding diversity that can withstand [the city’s climate],’ Folk said.
The response among the majority of residents has been positive, Folk said.
‘In an urban environment, trees are not at the forefront of thinking,’ she said. ‘But people are jazzed to have trees.’
By 2020, BUFC and Grow Boston Greener hope to increase the Boston’s city canopy coverage from 29 percent to 35 percent by helping plant the 100,000 urban-tolerant trees, Folk said.
Peter Reynolds, a volunteer for Grow Boston Greener, said he has planted trees in several Boston neighborhoods, including Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. In his time working with Grow Boston Greener, Reynolds said he has witnessed the rewards of planting trees throughout Boston.
‘There is a tremendous benefit to trees, especially in the under-serviced neighborhoods,’ he said. ‘It is great to have people who will get out to help improve the lives of other individuals.’
Reynolds said he is continually impressed by Grow Boston Greener and its partnership with a number of other environmental organizations and coalitions around Boston.
‘It’s really cooperative and has a certain talent, acting as an effective umbrella for other organizations such as Jamaica Plain Trees,’ Reynolds said.
At Northeastern, the Husky Energy Action Team (HEAT), a student group working toward climate neutrality and sustainability on campus, supports the initiative, Director of Marketing and Public Relations Dan Abrams’ ‘ ‘ said.
‘Trees are vital to so much in life,’ he said.