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Welcome to the West Lafayette Tree Friends website. In West Lafayette, Indiana we are a group of volunteers who are expanding and maintaining our city’s street trees, i.e., trees planted in the public right-of-way along city streets. Our purpose is to create and sustain economic, environmental, health, and aesthetic benefits in our West Lafayette community through planting and nurturing street trees (in a 2016 inventory, the city had over 9000!).

We work with the city government and typically complete one or two large planting projects each year and schedule fall and spring pruning programs. We also work with individual property owners to address any concerns they have with their street trees such as planting new ones, pruning, or tree removal when necessary. If you would like to have a street tree planted, or you see a street tree that needs pruning, seems sick, or appears to be dying (or dead), please contact the West Lafayette Tree Friends at city@wltreefriends.org.

All Tree Friends initiatives are financed by private donations which may be augmented by funds from the city government and/or matching grants when available.

If you see us working about West Lafayette (look for our day-glow yellow vests), stop and chat. We work hard, but we have fun. We are always glad to talk trees.
 
Fall colors abound

 

Want to help the Tree Friends keep the city’s street trees healthy?

Fall 2021 pruning was a great success. We are now ready to get out for our Spring pruning and tree checks. Here is the Spring 2022 pruning schedule. Contact the city Forestry and Community Greenspace manager at 765-775-5170 for information. 

Hard at work with the Fall 2022 pruning volunteers!

 

Tree pruners all!

A SUCCESSFUL EFFORT!

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In 2021, the West Lafayette Tree Friends partnered with the city of West Lafayette to launch the city’s ambitious project to build a municipal tree nursery. The expanded capability will allow the city to be more selective in the types of trees that will be planted. That year was the perfect time to assist in this project. It was the 30th year the city of West Lafayette had been designated by the Arbor Day Foundation as Tree City USA and the 40th anniversary for the West Lafayette Tree Friends. Through a fundraising campaign entitled 30-40-50, the West Lafayette Tree Friends were able to give the city $50,000 toward the development of the tree nursery. 

The land has been acquired and all the various permits are being obtained. The plan is to have 100 tree saplings planted in the Fall of 2022. West Lafayette Tree Friends will assist with volunteer hours to help at the tree nursery as requested. The generous support of donors and West Lafayette Tree Friends volunteer efforts made all of this possible. Thanks to everyone who brought this project to fruition. 

Tree Friends have an Endowment! 

Beloved friends of trees, John and Joanne MacDonald, graciously gifted the West Lafayette Tree Friends funding in their passing, so they may continue to grow and protect our community’s urban forest. The West Lafayette Tree Friends have approved the launch of the West Lafayette Tree Friends Endowment, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette, to honor of the generosity and foresight of the late MacDonalds. This endowment will ensure additional funding to plant, protect, and promote West Lafayette’s tree canopy. To donate, click on the Donate button at the bottom of this page, or email the Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette directly at info@cfglaf.org.
 
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Want a new or replacement street tree?  

If you have a sidewalk and greenspace in front of your home, the City of West Lafayette will plant a new or replacement street tree at no cost to you. The West Lafayette Tree Friends raises money to help pay for half the cost of the tree so that the city plants twice as many trees as they could plant. You can apply for a street tree by filling out this form and returning it via email to the address at the bottom of the form.
 

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T R E E   T I D B I T S
(Check out some interesting news on trees) 


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If you would like to be a part of future projects, make a donation, or attend a meeting, give us a call at 765-775-5160. Volunteers often help by…
• Planting
• Planning
• Mulching
• Watering
• Pruning
• Putting on tree sweaters (really!)

Community members also support us by making donations (click the button above for info) and 100% of every gift we receive goes directly into planting, pruning, and protecting trees in West Lafayette’s urban forest.

Any help you give us will be appreciated and can make a difference; don’t forget…

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
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