Baton Rouge Green

Why stop to smell the roses when you can smell a magnolia bloom?

Louisiana’s beautiful state flower, the (Magnolia grandiflora) can grow over 80 feet tall and is loved for its fragrant flowers, evergreen leaves, and striking seed cones. After blooming, the tree produces cone-like fruits that open to reveal bright red seeds, which are an important food source for birds and wildlife. 🐦

Fun fact: the shiny green leaves have rusty brown undersides, giving the tree its signature two-toned look when the wind blows through the branches.

If you’re thinking about planting one, you need to think big! They need lots of space! They thrive in full sun to partial shade and prefer rich, well-drained soil with consistent moisture. Once established, they’re surprisingly hardy and make incredible shade trees for landscapes.

🌱 Tree Care Tip: Magnolias have shallow roots, so adding mulch or leaving their dropped leaves around the base helps protect roots and retain moisture during hot southern summers.

What’s your favorite thing about Southern Magnolias? The blooms, the fragrance, or the iconic glossy leaves?

Whether you’re a Millennial, Gen Z, or any other generation, we figure “find a shady parking spot,” “enjoy fall color while it lasts,” “don’t carve your initials into tree bark,” and “trees make neighborhoods better” are pretty universal. (We can’t explain tree species selection to the squirrels.)

Trees are for everyone! It doesn’t matter your age, we all appreciate cooling off beneath a massive live oak, stopping to admire a red maple glowing in autumn, or wondering how a bald cypress manages to stand in water all day without complaining. Let’s face it, there’s only so many ways to say, “the right tree in the right place makes life better.”

In conclusion, appreciate our live oaks! Enjoy our red maples! Respect our bald cypress fr! We trust you’ll find them most agreeable. (They’re just out here cooling your streets, soaking up stormwater, supporting wildlife, cleaning the air, and looking iconic while doing it.)

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported Baton Rouge Green during our “MAY The Forest Be With You” Membership Campaign. 💚

Your support does more than fund our work. It helps plant trees, expand our canopy, improve air quality, reduce heat, and create a greener, healthier Baton Rouge for all of us.

Our commitment to growing and caring for our community canopy remains stronger than ever. If you've been considering joining our mission, there's still time to become a member through the link in our bio. Every membership helps us continue planting, protecting, and advocating for the trees that make our city a better place to live, work, and play!

Together, we're growing a stronger urban forest, and a stronger Baton Rouge, for generations to come. 🌳

Through our program, Louisiana Louisiana Community Forests, we are thrilled to partner with LSU AgCenter & Dr. Hallie Dozier to help fund/partner on efforts such as this across the state!

Join us on Wednesday, June 10 at 8:30am to talk about using shade trees to serve as assets to people and property while mitigating the possibility of becoming hinderances down the line!

This is a free event for the public, landscapers and arborists!

The Red River Research station is hosting an event on June 10th focused on using trees to shade your landscape.

Participants will learn how to choose and position shade trees to enhance your property, save energy, and protect your environment.

You can read more and RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/share/18Uc2zvmpj/

A big thank you to LSU Hilltop Arboretum for hosting us! 🌳💚

Last week, our Baton Roots and apprentices spent the day at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum getting hands-on experience with tree inventory techniques. From measuring DBH and identifying tree species to using clinometers to calculate tree height, they gained valuable skills that help support healthy urban forests.

There’s no better classroom than the outdoors, learning directly in the field and building the knowledge needed to care for our community’s canopy.

And of course, no day in nature is complete without meeting a few adorable critters along the way! 🐢✨

Thanks again to LSU Hilltop Arboretum for sharing your space and helping grow the next generation of urban forestry professionals!

Don’t let a good investment go to waste!

Trees are one of the best ways to invest in your community for your community! For every $1 invested, $2-5 is returned to the region through Eco-Benefits, improved property values, and safer neighborhoods!

Sadly, many of these initial investments don’t pay off because of poor planting and maintenance practices - by both home gardeners and landscape professionals alike.

These magnolias, for instance, could have been major assets to this sidewalk and its surrounding homes and businesses, but unfortunately they were planted too deeply. Instead of thriving, they will continue to slowly decline over the next several years. The addition of “Volcano Mulching” has further added insult to injury. Losses such as this can diminish trust and limit planting opportunities in the future.

Some quick tips to not let your investments go to waste:
-When removing your tree from its container, cut major roots circling or “girdling” the rootball
-Expose the “trunk flare” / tops of roots as they enter the soil
-Plant 2-4” above the grade of the surrounding soil
-Dig a shallow hole that’s 2-3x the width of the rootball
-MULCH (in a donut shape), MONITOR, WATER, repeat
-Remove/readjust stakes 9-12 months post planting

Please share our planting guide with your friends, neighbors, and even your contractors BEFORE work has begun. If you spend extra time during planting and monitoring in the first 1-3 years your investment can really pay off both for you AND your community!

What happens if you cut down all of a city's trees? - Stefan Al

Explore what makes trees a vital part of cities, and how urban spaces throughout history have embraced the importance of trees.

By 2050, it’s estimated that over 65% of the world will be living in cities. We may think of nature as being unconnected to our urban spaces, but trees have always been an essential part of successful cities. Humanity has been uncovering these arboreal benefits since the creation of our first cities thousands of years ago. So what makes trees so important to a city’s survival? Stefan Al explains.

https://youtu.be/zarll9bx6FI?si=Ye4g2onctAhjzdrs

A tree is basically a living pipeline wrapped in armor.

This diagram shows the layers inside a trunk—outer bark for protection, phloem for moving nutrients, cambium for growth, and xylem carrying water upward from the roots. Every ring and layer has a job, and understanding them helps explain why some wood is stronger, wetter, or more resistant than others.

Good loggers don’t just cut trees—they understand how trees work from the inside out.