Trees for the Future
The Houston Climate Action Plan aims to plant 4.6 million trees by 2030. Leading this ambitious effort, Design Workshop’s team developed a comprehensive strategy to preserve, manage, and expand Houston’s urban forest within the Midtown District.
Identifying Urban Forestry Potential
Elizabeth Baldwin Park, one of Houston’s oldest parks (established in 1905), is located in the Midtown District and is renowned for its majestic century-old oak trees. To preserve, expand, and manage the urban forest that is Baldwin Park, the Design Workshop team performed an in-depth assessment of the current tree canopy to gain a clear understanding of the trees' health and ecosystem contributions. Using i-Tree Eco (a data collection software), we quantified individual tree performance, allowing precise recommendations for managing and enhancing the existing canopy. Looking at more than 1,800 data points over a 100-year span, the analysis revealed that many species provide significantly increasing benefits as they mature—some even outperforming live oaks in areas such as carbon sequestration and air quality. To inform future tree recommendations, the team looked at two separate pieces of this data:
- i-Tree Eco: Analyzing the existing tree conditions on-site and quantifying the performance of the trees today.
- i-Tree Design: Analyzing the Houston Recommended Tree List for the best-performing tree/trees and tailoring future planting recommendations.
Houston Canopy Coverage Realities, Baldwin Park, Houston, Texas
Improving the Urban Forest, Baldwin Park, Houston, Texas
Enhancing the Tree Canopy
Using this data, the Midtown District is setting targeted planting and maintenance goals to optimize its urban forest’s ecological contributions such as carbon sequestration, stormwater management, air quality, and other important environmental benefits. Key recommendations include:
- Promoting biodiversity
- Identifying ideal planting locations with species that maximize long-term environmental benefits
- Apply i-Tree analysis to all trees protected under the Houston Ordinance to optimize both species choice and site suitability across the district