At two corners of 78th and Third a possibly coordinated effort has put in rustic style guards around the tree pits.

He also warned urban homeowners against planting flowers in a tree pit because they draw away air and water from the roots.

People, she said, "are greening any little soil space, like the tree pit in front of their apartment building."

A 12-ounce package (enough for two or three tree pits) is about $7.

The new material can't simply replace the soil in a tree pit, because that would not provide any additional growing room.

Can you recommend any drought-resistant plants that would survive the summer in tree pits?

They stood transfixed, watching him finally stop near the top of the hill to dump the mulch in a tree pit.

The answer was trying to repair compacted soil in tree pits, which he decided represented "the soul of the neighborhood."

They might also build protective barriers like tree pits or raised beds.

It's the city's 500,000 trees in their 3-by-5-foot tree pits.