07/2026: GIFR Volunteer Newsletter!

As summer gives way to the upcoming planting season, Grow It Forward Restoration is gearing up for a busy fall. In this newsletter, you'll find exciting updates about our 2026 Tree Drive, volunteer opportunities, tree care tips, and important news about our 2023 Douglas Fir cohort.

Organization Updates

While summer is typically a quieter season for tree planting, we expect tree placements to increase substantially during the fall planting season. To help meet that movement, we’ve added an online order form to our website! Now, restoration organizations can see what we have available directly from the website all year long. Know an organization that is interested in GIFR trees? Send them to our website!

Tree Order Form

2026 GIFR Tree Drive! 

This year, we have 10,500 trees we can distribute to local restoration efforts. To help meet the needs of the restoration community (and find these trees a home!) we’re launching the 2026 GIFR Tree Drive! We hope this limited time sale and outreach campaign will help us facilitate the distribution of trees to more partner organizations. 

What we’re offering to our partners: 

  • 25% discount on all trees 

  • Reduced species order minimum

  • Coordinated delivery window 

We’re directly reaching out to the +45 organization we’ve partnered with in the past starting on July 10th. They have until September 4th to place an order and take advantage of this campaign’s benefits. Have an organization that may be interested in trees? Send us their contact information and we’ll reach out! 

Help us put the “drive” in Tree Drive 

We’ll need volunteer truck drivers to help us collect and distribute trees. If you’re not already signed up, consider joining our volunteer driver list. Delivery dates are tentatively set for September 19th and October 10th. Mark your calendar!

Micronursery Showcase:  JD Level

JD's micronursery in North Seattle is in it's second year of growth. JD is an avid tree lover, stating "I have not met a tree I did not like."

This is JD's first micronursery and he's treating it right! With a WiFi watering system, these trees can be taken care of from anywhere!

Tree Lifecycle: Rooting for Roots

The new growth your trees put on this Spring combined with hot Summer temperatures warming the soil of your tree’s pots creates the perfect conditions to support robust root growth. Your trees are getting thirstier as their roots expand throughout their pots; foraging for nutrients and water. They likely need water multiple times a week. You should expect your trees to begin filling out their pots with light brown roots. 

Checking in on your tree's roots 

In our last newsletter, we suggested performing a health check on your trees. Here is a simple tutorial video on how to look at the root of your trees without damaging them.

Tree Tip: Fertilizer!

Are your trees looking yellow? This is likely due to a nitrogen deficiency. Consider applying fertilizer such as Fish & Guano (9-6-2).

~ Send us a status update on your trees! ~

Micronursery Survey

Updates on 2023 Douglas Firs

After much deliberation, the GIFR Board of Directors have made the hard decision to cull the remaining trees in the 2023 Douglas Fir cohort. We are so grateful for all the love and care all our 2023 hosts have shown their trees, and we could no longer ignore the health issues related to this cohort. We considered several options for these trees, but ultimately decided this is the best way forward. 

After micronursery hosts began potting these trees in 2023, we immediately noticed the trees were not meeting our expectation for what a healthy tree should look like. We asked our bareroot sapling provider to identify what may be wrong with the trees, and they let us know the trees tested positive for several root diseases. We had hoped that with the love and care from their micro-nursery host, the trees may be able to recover from these diseases, but a recent survey of trees in this cohort have revealed their roots have still not recovered. 

Notably, we now know this cohort of trees have been exposed to phytophthora, an invasive and high destruct fungal disease responsible for devastating endemic diseases such as Sudden Oak Death. Phytophthora is no joke, and we don’t want to risk introducing this disease to any of the restoration sites our partners are working. Therefore, the best option is to dispose of the remaining 2023 Douglas Fir. 

So now what? 

2023 Douglas Fir Micronursery Hosts - Expect to hear more from us about how we’ll be collecting your trees between August 9th and September 4th. 

Volunteer Truck Drivers - We’ll need your help rounding up all these trees. Please keep your eyes out for an email from us about collecting trees from the remaining hosts between August 8th and September 4th. 

All Volunteers - We’ll be hosting composting parties for these trees on Saturday, August 8th and Saturday, September 5th. Please mark your calendar if you’d be willing to help us send off these trees. More information to come. 

We know this is hard news for our community. If you have questions about the decision, please reach out. We’re also happy to take questions about phytophthora (are anything else) via the community discord.

Events from Partner Orgs

  • PNW Climate Week  July 13 through July 19 (learn more)

  • Central Puget Sound: Nursery Work Parties - WNPS First Saturday of Each Month (learn more)

  • Fall Native Plant Festival - Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center Saturday, October 3rd (learn more)

Info GIFR