Skip to main content

Item 822: 00822_Ward, Barry_Trees for Houston

 Item — Box: 14

Interviewer: Paul Jan

Project: University Of Houston

Following the destruction of Hurricane Alicia, Trees for Houston was born and focused on planting street trees in modest amounts around the Houston area. Barry Ward, a self-proclaimed naturalist, began his work with Trees for Houston in early 2008 and since then has dramatically increased the number of planted trees to an average of 30,000 a year. In addition to planting trees, Barry discusses the numerous services that Trees for Houston provides, such as a new and upcoming horticultural center in a three-acre facility an impressive amount of public tree donations and numerous community projects at schools and churches. Barry believes the organization can compete against popular urban gardens by educating the community how to maintain their own fruit trees and has been experimenting with South American trees in his own home. Barry also goes into detail about the recent 2011 summer drought that struck the area and how he was able to predict and react in order to sustain the trees in Houston.

Dates

  • 1996-2017

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Oral history interviews are only available for use when the University of Houston Libraries is in possession of a release form signed by both interviewee and interviewer allowing for such access.

Extent

From the Collection: 25.0 linear feet

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750