Planting free trees on private property: understanding urban residents’ motivations and hesitations

In order to meet comprehensive planting goals, tree-planting campaigns must plant on private properties, in residential front and backyards. Successful engagement in these kinds of neighborhood plantings requires an understanding of residents' decision making. Through surveys with past recipients of free 1″-caliper trees, past neighborhood leaders of tree-planting recruiting, and door-to-door canvassing in a pilot neighborhood, this study shows the top factors for accepting free trees and main reasons for declining. Surveys asked past tree recipients their main motivations for accepting a free tree, and three reasons rose to the top: trees provide beauty, trees help the environment, and trees keep people healthy. Top barriers for declining a free tree included not desiring more trees than they had, concerns about maintenance, and a language barrier. These results can inform tree-planting campaigns and tree-focused organizations in order to improve messaging and neighborhood engagement – all to ensure that more trees are planted and canopy is increased. •Beautification, environmental benefit, and public health improvements were the main motivators for accepting free trees.•Top barriers were perceived acceptance of current canopy levels and maintenance concerns of existing trees.•Mailers and canvassing were ineffective outreach strategies on their own.