Oakland Cemetery Tree Planting

Help Repair the World plant trees in Oakland Cemetery to help sustain our urban forest. These trees will provide cleaner air, cool shade, and all around improved habitat for humans and wildlife living in our community. Planting tasks include digging holes with shovels/mattocks, untangling roots with your hands, mulching, watering, and cleaning up your area. Physical activity such as bending, lifting, and kneeling is required. Tree planting can be physically strenuous – be ready to break a sweat and get dirty!

What to wear and bring with you

• Gloves: Bring your own work gloves.
• Recommended clothing: Wear clothes and shoes you don’t mind getting muddy. Long pants are recommended as you may be kneeling on the ground. All volunteers need closed-toed shoes or boots, clothes that can get dirty.
• Tools: Trees Atlanta provides necessary tools, but if you’d like to bring your own, any of the following tools would be helpful: shovels, hand trucks, mattocks, and hand cultivators.
• Drinking water: We strongly recommend you bring drinking water in reusable containers. No one-time-use plastic bottles, please.
• Allergy medication: If you’ve experienced life-threatening allergic reactions to insects, please come prepared with your own emergency medicine, such as an auto-injector or oral medication. Please notify the coordinator of your need for medication in the case of an allergic attack.
• You may also want: Sunscreen and bug spray as needed, snacks as needed (Trees Atlanta will not provide any of these items).

Liability Release

All volunteers will sign a waiver upon arrival at the project. You can preview our liability and photo release waiver here. There is no need to print a waiver ahead of time unless you are 16 or 17 and attending without a parent/guardian.

Age requirements

All ages are welcome at this project. Volunteers under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Volunteers who are 16+ are allowed to attend without a parent/legal guardian present if they bring a signed waiver with them to the project.

Weather

Projects happen rain or shine, so please check the weather beforehand and come prepared. We will cancel projects if inclement weather such as lightning occurs and is forecasted to persist for the duration of the project. Because weather is sometimes unpredictable, the decision to cancel is typically made at the project start time. We will contact you via email if we choose to cancel in advance.

No restrooms are available on site

Most of our work sites are in public parks and greenspaces that do not have public restroom facilities available. Volunteers will need to leave the site to use the restroom at a local business.

Parking Safety

Do not leave valuables in your car when attending projects. When parking along streets in neighborhoods, please do not block driveways and observe street laws such as ‘No Parking’ signs, fire hydrants, emergency lanes, etc.

Meeting Location:

Please meet at the Oakland Cemetery Gate at 248 Oakland Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. There is street parking on MLK Jr Dr SE, Biggers St SE, Woodward Ave SE, and Grant St SE.