By Glore Ruiz
Street trees are often background players in our lives. We might not think about them other than to park in the shade or admire their fall color. They are, however, a very unique shared community asset that only some benefit from. In North St. Louis City, many residential streets are lined with overgrown weeds and debris or empty tree wells in the midst of broken concrete. In aims to bring some shade and greenery to the area, City Forestry created a street tree planting initiative. When St. Louis City Forestry asked us to partner in the planting of 3,200 trees, our team was eager to make these street trees a reality. Areas that were previously bare of greenery now have young native Missouri trees growing and being tended to by both City Forestry and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri.
Getting trees in the ground is just the start of this collaboration. City Forestry needed help with both establishment and long-term stewardship. In the first year of partnership our stewardship team planted 1600 trees between Oct 2024 and April 2025. 1,443 of these trees are street trees and 119 were planted in parks. The second round of planting will start in November 2025.
Stewardship will include watering, mulching, pruning, and monitoring health through all seasons and all kinds of weather. The Forest ReLeaf Stewardship Team will water these street trees weekly and mulch them once a year. After the first two years, Forest ReLeaf will provide three years of pruning and monitoring of the 500 trees. The remaining 2,500 trees will be supported by city contracted stewardship teams.
Disaster Strikes: In May 2025, the area in North Saint Louis City, where most of the street plantings are taking place, was hit by an EF 3 tornado. Not only was local infrastructure destroyed, but the old, large, shade producing trees were also severely damaged. These fallen trees caused both physical and emotional damage on their way down.
In the midst of the damage and fallen trees it felt like a sign of hope to see the newly planting baby trees still in place and growing despite the storm. These trees will take years to reach their fully mature form, and they will continue growing to provide a healthy canopy and shade in a space that recently and unexpectedly lost the little shade it had. These trees are at the beginning of their growth cycle and will grow along with the neighborhoods as they recover. These unfortunate circumstances make the silver lining of this replanting even more meaningful as we try to reforest all of Missouri.
Tree planting is projected to continue with the second half of the 3,200 trees going in this fall.
“Imagine the kids in your congregation growing up learning all the native plants in your area and how to take care of them, and being able to experience the divine in nature,” says Christopher Grundy.
Since 1999, the Ferguson Volunteer Flower Department has been caring for two gardens in downtown Ferguson.
With Forest ReLeaf’s help, Park Commissioner Peg Crockett is adding more trees to Hunter Park, giving the local community more opportunities for play and leisure.
I am Elijah Belz, the Field Operations Coordinator for Forest ReLeaf. I am a certified arborist and the primary person in the field for Forest ReLeaf, maintaining roughly 1000 trees planted in the St. Louis City, and maintaining our equipment our equipment used to maintain our trees! This job is a catch-all position that carries different responsibilities during the different seasons. Fall and spring are our planting, tree delivery, and inventory season; winter is our pruning, mulching, and planning season; summer is our watering season where we lead a crew of interns getting into the green industry.
My background is bicycle repair! I was in that industry for almost a decade, including running a bicycle repair shop, before taking a job with a tree planting organization in Atlanta. From there I moved to an edible landscape company. I became certified as an arborist while working at Forest ReLeaf this February! Trees rock, bikes are cool too.
De’Nonna Jones graduated from Knox College in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, driven by a commitment to environmental justice and community-based conservation. Since then, she has gained hands-on experience working across a range of green spaces throughout the St. Louis region, focusing on the care, restoration, and accessibility of urban natural areas. She began her journey at Tower Grove Park, where she developed a deep appreciation for public green spaces as vital community resources, before moving into a stewardship role with the Missouri Botanical Garden in partnership with Great Rivers Greenway. She now serves as the Stewardship Crew Coordinator at Forest ReLeaf. De’Nonna is passionate about creating inclusive pathways into environmental work and empowering tree lovers and emerging conservationists to see themselves as stewards of their communities. Through her work, she strives to strengthen connections between people, trees, and places in urban environments.
After 17 years in the non-profit and public sector, Jess remains committed to mission-driven work that tackles the challenges facing our communities. Their career began with a year of service as an Americorps St. Louis Emergency Response team member, responding to natural disasters and performing conservation projects. That foundation of service led to roles supporting the arts, affordable housing, mental health, and grassroots housing advocacy in St. Louis. During this journey Jess has worked to center the value “nothing about us, without us.” They do their best to ensure that the voices of people who have been marginalized guide the strategy and execution of work that honors their lived experiences. When they aren’t working, Jess is out paddling, hiking, working in their garden, or building something.
