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🌳 Mulch for Mayor?
Count the trees, and count on the Mulch community!
Andrea Childress
August 19, 2025
Mulch Metrics
Mission: Bring New Yorkers together to rewild NYC
Hi everyone! Andrea and Martina here with your weekly dose of Mulch madness! Let’s get to it.
Community Spotlight
First up, we want to give a shout out to Mulch member Vigi, who shared an awesome community mulching event with us on Discord! Nothing makes us happier than seeing members of our community take action. The trees thank you, Vigi, and so do we!
We love to see our community members taking care of the plants right outside their front door!
🌳 Counting on You 🌳
Did you know NYC Parks has an interactive tree map? You can find hundreds of thousands of individual trees all across the NYC Metro area, and record your own caregiving activities.
Not only that, 2025 is a tree census year in NYC. Every 10 years, New Yorkers work together to count the trees in all of the city parks, to help manage and maintain our urban forest. The Parks department provides all the necessary equipment and training to volunteers, so no experience is required. Check out our event section below to sign up!
If Mulch Were Mayor
It’s been a whirlwind of an election season in NYC, and it got us thinking - what if Mulch were mayor? What are some things we would do if we just had a tiny bit more influence? We may not be tossing our hats into the mayoral race, but we don’t have to be elected to office to do something!
5 Things Mulch Would Do as Mayor
Block Microgrants: Offer simple starter grants for DIY mini-habitats—window boxes, curbside rain gardens, tree-bed fixes.
Native-First Planting: Require 100% native species in public landscapes and incentivize biodiversity; offer free starter kits and seed swaps through libraries and community groups.
Street-Tree Care Revamp: Prioritize the hottest, least-shaded blocks; promise 90-day replacements; train green infrastructure stewards.
Sponge City: Citywide rain-barrel giveaways, and “sponge street” pilots (permeable pavers, bioswales).
Green Corridors & Backstreets: Expand Open Streets into connected walking/biking routes that double as pollinator pathways—add pocket Miyawaki forests in schoolyards, vacant lots, and near transit as biodiversity anchors.
Tiny Mayor Moves You Can Do Today
Plant a window-ledge pollinator box (native seeds = more bees).
Adopt a street tree and log your care on the NYC Street Tree Map.
Show up for Open Streets—walk, bike, volunteer, or apply to bring one to your block via NYC DOT.
Call your Council member about rain-barrel giveaways and tree-care funding—find yours with the NYC Council map.
💫 When neighbors act, the whole city shifts. In a way, we’re all a little bit the mayor.
Events
Just as the US Census takes stock of our human population every ten years, so too does New York City for its tree population. Every weekend, 8/24-9/15. Register ahead of time at their website.
Harlem Library Plant Swap - Friday, Aug 22, 2-3pm
This event is free and open to adults. You're encouraged to bring a healthy, pest-free plant or cutting to swap, but it's not required. Don't forget a bag or container to carry home your new plant friend!
That’s it for this week.
Make sure to join the conversation on Discord to share your own rewilding efforts, get tips from the community, and to find events in your area.
See you out there — one garden at a time 🌱 🪴
The Mulch Team