TAMPA, Fla. — A major chunk of New Tampa is getting a massive green upgrade this week. The City of Tampa is moving forward with its environmental plans by putting 3,500 oak saplings into the ground at K-Bar Ranch.
This latest push is part of Mayor Jane Castor’s citywide goal to add 30,000 new trees to Tampa’s landscape by the year 2030. When you combine this week’s effort with the 6,800 mostly pine saplings planted at the ranch back in December, the K-Bar site alone will now be home to 10,300 new trees.
City data shows that since this initiative launched in April 2023, Tampa has successfully planted 16,838 trees across its communities.
“The 56-acre site is bursting with potential, and the addition of these oaks means we’ll be building a great park with shade already taking root,” Mayor Jane Castor said. “Tampa is proud of its tree canopy, and we’ll continue to grow it in our drive for environmental resiliency.”
The current planting is split between two specific native species: 1,800 live oaks (Quercus virginiana) and 1,700 sand live oaks (Quercus geminata). All of the young trees were grown in liner pots before being brought to the site. Getting them into the dirt is a collaborative effort, with work being handled by Tampa’s Parks & Recreation staff, volunteers from Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, and members of the Green Team.
While large-scale projects like K-Bar Ranch do heavy lifting for the city’s numbers, Tampa officials also rely on smaller, community-focused programs to keep the overall canopy healthy. These include the Mayor’s Tree Giveaway, which hands out free trees to locals every spring, and the year-round Tree-Mendous Tampa program, which lets neighborhood groups and individual residents request tree plantings in their own front yards or along public rights of way.
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