Start with a purpose
Decide what this event should achieve. You might be cooling a sunny street, stabilising a riverbank, or adding fruit trees to a school garden. A clear purpose helps you choose the site, the species, and the partners who will support you.
Choose and prepare the site
Walk the area and note sunlight, soil, existing utilities, and access for people and vehicles. Mark distances from buildings, pavements, and power lines so your future trees have room to grow. If the ground is compacted, plan time for loosening the soil and removing rubbish before volunteers arrive.
Secure permissions and support
Contact the landowner or municipality and ask what permits are required. Request utility checks for buried lines. Invite a local arborist, ranger, or experienced gardener to review your plan and to be present on the day as a planting coach.
Design the planting
Pick species that fit your climate and your purpose. Favour native or well-adapted trees, mix ages and types, and space them according to mature size. Mark each spot with paint or flags. Prepare labels so volunteers know which tree goes where.
Gather materials
You will need saplings, stakes if required, ties, mulch, compost if the soil is poor, buckets, watering cans, and hoses. Add gloves, spades, wheelbarrows, tarps for soil, and a first aid kit. Plan a reliable water source and another plan if the tap fails, such as portable tanks.
Make it safe and welcoming
Provide clear directions, toilets or nearby access, drinking water, shade, and a sign in table. Ask people to wear closed shoes and sun protection. Prepare a short safety briefing that covers lifting technique, tool use, and how to work around children and traffic.
Invite and brief volunteers
Share the why, the where, the when, and what to bring. Give an estimated duration and reassure people that training will be provided on arrival. If you expect children, confirm that parents or teachers will supervise. Ask for photo consent at registration if you plan to share images later.
Assign simple roles
A site lead welcomes people and keeps time. A planting coach demonstrates technique. A tool and mulch lead manages equipment. A water lead fills and refills cans. A data lead records species, locations, and numbers planted. A photographer captures before and after images. Everyone else plants and enjoys the day.
Open with a short demonstration
Show how deep and wide to dig, how to find the trunk flare, how to set the tree so the flare sits at ground level, how to backfill and gently firm the soil, and how to lay a flat mulch ring that does not touch the bark. Explain the watering target for each tree and where to place any stakes.
Keep the flow simple
Volunteers collect a labelled tree, move to a marked spot, plant, mulch, and water, then return for the next one. Runners help with soil, mulch, and water so planters can keep moving. Check each tree before the planter leaves the spot, and adjust depth or mulch as needed.
Record what you did
Note species, quantities, and exact locations. Take a group photo and a few close ups of good planting practice. This record helps with aftercare, reporting, and future funding.
Plan the aftercare before people go home
Explain that the first two summers decide survival. Share the watering schedule, the contact person, and the method for reporting problems such as staking failure or vandalism. Invite volunteers to adopt a tree and add their names to a rota with dates for watering and mulch refresh.
Close with thanks and next steps
Thank everyone, share the total number of trees planted, and remind them where photos and updates will appear. Send a follow up message within two days with a link to the album, the aftercare timetable, and the date of the first maintenance morning. Celebrate the win and keep the circle engaged.
Common mistakes to avoid
Field notes from planting days. These are the slip-ups we fix most often and the simple fixes that keep a young tree alive.
Buried trunk flare
The collar where trunk meets roots should sit at ground level. If you have to dig to see it, the tree is too deep. Lift it, reset it a little higher, firm the soil with your hands, and water to settle everything in place.
Mulch volcanoes
Bark rots when it is smothered. Spread a wide, even ring of mulch 5â8 cm deep and leave a coffee-cup gap around the trunk. Mulch is a blanket for roots, not a scarf for the stem.
Copy and paste streets
A whole block of the same species looks tidy and fails together. Mix well-suited species and stagger ages so one pest or storm does not take the lot.
Skipping the checks
Five minutes of admin saves weeks of repairs. Call before you dig, mark buried services, look up for cables, read local rules, and talk with neighbours about shade and views.
Plant and disappear
Survival is decided in the first two summers.
Give a slow, deep soak during dry spells, refresh mulch each spring, remove stakes once the tree stands by itself, and guard trunks from mowers, strimmers, and curious pets.
Rule to remember: see the flare, keep mulch off bark, mix species, check utilities, and water through summer.
Explore related volunteer projects
Want to take action today? Browse our tag pages on Voluntouring.org to find hands-on projects:
reforestation,
agroforestry,
conservation,
climate action.
These tags gather ongoing calls for volunteers, short programs, and seasonal events from trusted hosts.
