News

This week, Urban Forestry Works was honored to be recognized under the CARES program at the Volusia County Commission meeting at the county seat in DeLand, Florida. The award is presented by Florida Farm Bureau as part of their CARES program that recognizes Florida farmers and ranchers who show exemplary effort to protect Florida’s natural resources through their management practices. CARES stands for County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship. Over 800 farmers and ranchers have been recognized under the program in Florida. Urban Forestry Works was particularly recognized for their innovation in strategically recycling the properties natural water resources to irrigate our home farm in Barberville, FL (link to page). Surface water on the farm is recycled using a strategic system of ponds and canals to irrigate the entire farm and recharge...

June 4, 2022, marked the grand opening of the North end of the new Riverfront Esplanade Park in Daytona Beach. The park has more than a mile of waterfront trail with amenities including benches, swings, a playground, water filling stations, a dog park, and a state-of-the-art splash pad. You can visit their website for a calendar of events, including regularly scheduled toddler time, yoga classes, and live music! This project began for UFW in 2020 with the selection and root pruning of character trees hand-selected by the park’s board of directors. The live oaks were grown at our Ft. Pierce, Florida tree farm. The magnolia and bald cypress trees were from our tree farm in Barberville, Florida. Our patented Large Tree Transplanting System™ makes it possible to complete projects of this magnitude on time and within budget. UFW offers practical solutions for on-site flexibility and the assurance of a more reliable process that guarantees successful, large tree relocating. Thanks to our unique techniques, these trees were transplanted successfully and will bring shade and beauty to the park for generations to come.

“Every day, I have the privilege of working alongside my dad and siblings while working hard to bring history, elegance, and maturity to these landscape projects.“ The Orlando Voyager Magazine recognized “Urban Forestry Works in the Hidden Jems: Local Businesses You Should Know” section of the magazine. We appreciate the magazine’s review of our business. And we are especially pleased the magazine chose Brittany Underhill to tell about our family owned business. LOCAL STORIES     APRIL 19, 2022 Inspiring Conversations with Brittany Underhill of Urban Forestry WorksToday we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Underhill. Hi Brittany, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?Hello, my name is Brittany Underhill. I was born and raised in DeLand, Florida (I’m 7th generation from Volusia...

Mattamy Homes wanted to make a statement when driving into their beautiful new community, Island Village in Celebration, Florida. UFW was up to the challenge and worked with the landscape architects to assure that visitors are impressed by the large specimen trees each time they enter the development. Every tree installation is special and requires dedicated time and effort to make sure it’s done correctly. First the clients were looking for large trees with unique characteristics, and that’s where our national tree farm in Barberville, Florida, came into play. Representatives from the developer and landscape architectural firm visited our tree farm to hand pick their trees. Once the trees were tagged, the process to start moving their trees began. What trees did they select?  14-16” caliper character live oak trees with large canopies for shade. How were...

The Villages, along with Landscape Architect Michael Pape, wanted to design and build a town center based around “Old Florida”. With so many residents of The Villages coming from other states around the country, they wanted to showcase a part of Florida that has been forgotten. Their vision was to landscape the town center with material that was native to Florida, while creating a mature canopy that would soften the empty site.

We are proud of our history, excited about our future, and eager to bring success to our customers. UFW’s mission is not only to exceed the market’s expectations, but to bring history, elegance, and maturity to landscapes. We are looking to change the perception of large tree moving, and take it from a high risk practice to a highly trusted and successful service. For the past 75 years our family has been serving the green industry. In 1936, Underhill Ferneries was started by Frank and Mary Underhill. Four generations later, our family business has grown and expanded, but still hold true to farming and quality service within the green industry. After many years of growing and handling large specimen trees, we realized that there was an opportunity to improve the way large trees were being handled and relocated. Through innovation, new technology, and a...