Urban tree rescue · a family project

Some trees are born in the cracks.

We rescue young, beneficial trees that take root in city pavement — before they're torn out — and give them a second life in parks, schools, and neighborhoods that need shade.

A tree in a sidewalk crack is doomed — unless someone moves it.

Pavement seedlings get pulled by crews or strangled by concrete long before they mature. The good ones — natives and beneficial species — are worth saving. We identify them, rescue them in their narrow transplant window, nurse them back, and replant them where canopy is scarce.

It's climate work, tree-equity work, and anti-waste work, all at once — run by hand, tree by tree.

C · T · L
Crack Tree Life

Named for our three kids — Chris, Taylor, and Lauren. Every tree we save is planted for the people who'll sit under it long after we're gone.

How a rescue works

Five steps from a doomed seedling to a thriving neighborhood tree.

01

Find

Spot beneficial saplings rooted in pavement, walls, and lots.

02

Triage

ID the species. Rescue the natives; responsibly remove invasives.

03

Rescue

Lift young trees within their transplant window, with the city's OK.

04

Replant

Settle them into parks, schools, and yards that need canopy.

05

Nurture

Mulch, water, and watch over each one through its first seasons.

Help a tree make it

Three ways to grow the canopy with us.

Sponsor a tree

$25 covers the soil, pot, and mulch to carry one rescue through its first year.

Give now

Volunteer

Join a dig day. No experience needed — just gloves and a free Saturday.

Sign up

Adopt

Give a rescued tree a forever home in your yard, school, or block.

Browse trees