Planting Programs
Growing Friends (GF) conducts its own planting projects, including the Boulevard Tree Program, and makes grants to support others through its Grant Program. GF also recruits and organizes volunteers for planting projects, and provides design and planting advice.
Grants Program
This program has made matching grants of almost $100,000 for projects throughout the Helena area. For more information, read the Application Form, or contact growing friends at [email protected]
Boulevard Tree Program
This program has planted over 500 trees in “boulevard” strips (the dirt area between a sidewalk and a street) of residential streets. Growing Friends will work with neighborhoods/multihousehold streets to coordinate large-scale boulevard plantings. For single households interested in planting a tree (or two) in their boulevards, we recommend working directly with the City. If you have a large boulevard planting and are interested in knowing more, please contact [email protected].
Growing Friends Projects
Each year GF conducts a number of its own planting projects. For a sense of the diversity of locations where GF has been involved in plantings, see the cumulative record of its Accomplishments.
Growing Friends’ Memorial Tree Grants
Summary: 50% match, up to $250, to plant a memorial tree on public grounds.
Growing Friends of Helena will assist people in planting trees as a living memorial to family or friends. We will provide a 50% match, up to $250, to help cover the cost of planting a memorial tree on public grounds. For example, memorial trees have been planted with the help of the school district on school grounds, the County of Lewis and Clark around the courthouse and the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Spring Meadow State Park. We’d be happy to discuss any ideas for planting locations you may have.
Begin by contacting the governmental agency which controls the property where you want to see a tree planted. The site manager or grounds keeper probably can tell you who to contact. Or call the main office and explain your interest. Somebody from that agency will work with you in selecting a planting site and recommending a tree species that fits with landscape plans for the property.
Sometimes the agency is willing to have its crew do the planting. It will make the arrangements to get the tree and plant it. If not, you may contact one of the local nurseries to arrange for them to do the planting.
Once that’s done, contact Growing Friends at [email protected]. We don’t require any formal application, but we want to know the details of the planting before we approve our contribution. By the time you contact us, you should have all the information we need: the agency is agreeable, the type of tree is selected, a planting location chosen, and the arrangements made to plant the tree. With this information, we can make a decision and let you know. The handling of payment is going to be a little different in every situation. If a nursery is doing the planting, have them send the invoice to you. Once you get it, send a copy to Growing Friends and we’ll send our match to the nursery while you pay the rest. When working through a government agency, we’ll follow that agency’s procedure. In all cases, we require an invoice in order to make payment.
Each memorial planting entails a different set of circumstances depending on the agency involved. The important thing is to have one person willing to make the necessary contacts and phone calls to see the process through. If you have any questions or wish to discuss other ideas, please feel free to contact us.
