Learning Life Skills with Tree Care

When a disaster hits, it takes a lot of coordination to make sure things get back to normal. Our program to replace trees destroyed in this year’s spring storms, Operation Overstory, has been a community effort to help restore the Nashville area’s canopy. In a partnership with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, the jail’s horticulture program contributes its new on-site nursery to care for donated trees until they are ready to be planted somewhere in the Metro area. So far, they have held hundreds of trees for Operation Overstory, and they will provide similar care for trees to be planted in the Shelby Avenue Arboretum. 

Rehabilitation with Skills Training

The Sheriff’s Office has an overarching goal of teaching employable skills that are relevant to community needs. Horticulture is one of many programs available to offenders in the jail, and within it is a new arboriculture program for tree care. Inmates learn the nuances of soil science, food production and plant care to develop landscaping skills that support their eventual transition from incarceration back to the community. 

Paul Mulloy, the director of programs at the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, explained the importance of the correctional facility’s vocational training. “Prison and jail are not synonymous. Jail is usually for sentences shorter than 2 years, so there is more turnover. We can deliberately make a positive impact at the jail level to have them in better shape when they leave than when they first got here.” 

Jails are also more local than prisons; the offenders are our neighbors, and they usually go back to the same areas that they are from. Mulloy noted that inmates often relate to their own past experiences in gardening or taking care of trees with their families. They are able to build on that perspective by caring for trees today and thinking about the long-term horizons of the trees’ lives, and their own. Many of the individuals who have worked in the programs have broken their cycle of rotating in and out of jail, due in part to the Sheriff Office’s community partners who employ the former inmates that have been trained. 

A Growing Partnership

When the Sheriff’s Office wanted to expand their nursery program, Nashville Tree Conservation Corps was looking for a site to hold trees donated to Operation Overstory. NTCC installed an irrigation system at the jail’s site, and the program has blossomed since. This expanded both organizations’ capacity to serve the community. 

With more space, NTCC is able to accept more donated trees and hold them until they’re ready to be planted. This helps add to Nashville’s tree canopy and supports natural ecosystems in our highly developed city. At the same time, inmates learn valuable skills, which they use to bring the trees to maturity and deliver them to their planting sites. 

Mulloy values the ongoing relationship and recognizes the importance of collaboration: “Impact happens when people collaborate. We can’t work in silos.” 

We wholeheartedly agree here at NTCC, and our mission is carried out by people across multiple groups who generously give their time and attention to the cause of good urban forestry. Residents can actively grow Nashville’s canopy, too, by signing up to volunteer with us.