This article looks at some of the practical things a community can do to improve the quality of trees purchased, outlining specifications for good nursery stock and providing some tips about the establishment of trees in urban areas. It addresses a very basic health care component, maintenance.
Nature plays an important role in the growth and development of any forest, urban or rural.
But conditions in urban and suburban areas are dominated by people. People design spaces for trees to grow, pour the concrete that covers the forest floor, drive the cars that skin a tree's bark and branches, and coordinate pruning and overall tree care. People make the budget decisions that either finance maintenance programs or leave trees to fend for themselves. Improving the health of the urban forest depends as much on the actions of citizens as it does on researchers and practicing urban foresters. Programs to manage urban trees usually come late in the life of the urban forest, and are directed at removing failing branches and dead trees that have become a public nuisance.