On April 2, KYCC Environmental Services partnered with the West Adams Neighborhood Association, TreePeople, the Los Angeles Lakers, City Plants, and EastWest Bank, to plant 29 trees in the West Adams neighborhood. Our partners brought in the Laker Girls, employees, friends, and family members to join in our event.

Ryan Allen demonstrated the first tree planting, welcoming “Katy,” a jacaranda sapling, with LA Lakers player Julius Randle. After planting their trees, volunteers joined in the TreePeople tradition, chanting “Trees need people! People need trees!” And welcoming newly planted trees with quirky names, such as “Swaggy Tree,” “Tree-Pain,” and ‘Green LaTreeFah.”

West Adams was the first neighborhood to participate in KYCC’s High Density Tree Planting Program supported by a grant through Cal Fire. Saturday’s 29 trees were the first of 160 to be planted in this neighborhood in April. After the trees are planted, KYCC will be able to maintain them for three years. The end result will be healthy trees well on their way to creating a densely canopied neighborhood.

Since 2007, KYCC Environmental Services has planted over 10,000 free street trees in Los Angeles, carefully selecting trees that would fit the neighborhood. Residents are asked to commit to maintaining the new trees. So far, with the help of the community and our partners, KYCC has continued to further beautify the area of Los Angeles! Neighborhood involvement was no less prevalent at the West Adams tree planting, seeing as residents happily offered volunteers with water from their own garden hoses.

We’re excited to see the trees thrive around Loren Miller Park.