How to Apply for a TreePlanters Grant

Who can apply for an Openlands TreePlanters Grant? 

The Openlands TreePlanters Grants are for residents of the City of Chicago and surrounding communities. Community groups, volunteer organizations, local municipalities, and neighborhood associations can submit applications. For any additional eligibility questions, please contact trees@openlands.org.

Enter your address in our map to see if you live in a planting priority area.

If you are accepted, a member of the Openlands Forestry team will contact you to discuss your application and explain the next steps.

Once you have spoken with Openlands about the planting, you will need to identify potential planting locations.

Where can we plant trees?

After checking if the community where you want to plant trees is in our priority planting area, we require that they be planted on publicly accessible land. This could be the parkway between the road and the sidewalk, on school property, houses of worship, community gardens, natural areas, or parks. 

What information is needed to request a tree on a parkway?

Each person requesting a tree must live at or be the owner of a home or business requesting a tree for their parkway. They must provide their name, the address where the tree will be planted, and a phone number, and they must agree to care for the tree during its establishment period (three years). This information allows Openlands to secure planting permits in the public right of way, if needed, and communicate with people receiving a tree. Openlands will provide you with an electronic form to collect tree request information.

How many trees do we need to plant?

We must plant at least 10 trees to qualify for a weekday planting day. We must plant at least 20 trees to qualify for a weekend planting day.

If we have locations for over 20 trees are we guaranteed a weekend day?

Due to the limited number of available weekends during planting season (April-May and September-November), not all weekend qualified grants can be planted each season. If you have submitted a quality project but cannot schedule your planting for the coming season, we may roll your application over to the next planting season.

Once we have a date confirmed for your planting, you can begin recruiting volunteers!

The tree planting is a community engagement and education opportunity, so we need the community to be together. Openlands will provide additional resources to help with event promotion and encourage all volunteers to register using the unique event link before the planting day. 

How many volunteers are needed on planting day?

We require one volunteer per tree being planted, with all residences receiving trees being represented by someone. Volunteers will typically work in groups of four or five on planting day.

Do you have flyers and information to help spread the word about trees and planting day?

Yes! Openlands can help create a flyer to recruit tree adopters and volunteers. The flyers will include a QR code that links to our electronic “Tree Request Form” that will help us keep track of who has requested a tree. 

Once we have a planting day scheduled, we need to spread the word and gather volunteers. Openlands will help publicize the planting event, but the best way to recruit volunteers is to go directly to your neighbors. You can also spread the word on social media, tagging Openlands on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

We will be ready for planting day once you have completed all three steps. On planting day, Openlands and our trained TreeKeepers will assist volunteers with planting trees.

For more information on the Openlands TreePlanters Grants or with additional questions on how to apply, please contact trees@openlands.org or call 312-863-6280.