Wooden boardwalk path along the Big Creek Greenway surrounded by trees

ALPHARETTA — How much should it cost to plant 531 trees? In Alpharetta, the proposed answer is nearly $1.3 million.

City Council is scheduled to consider a $1,296,535.09 contract on Monday, November 9, to plant trees along Webb Bridge Road and North Main Street. Divide the total by 531, and the package averages about $2,442 per tree. That figure is not the price of buying a tree alone: it includes installation, root barriers, two years of watering and associated equipment, and a two-year tree warranty.

The trees have not been approved under this proposal yet. City staff recommends giving the work to Russell Landscape under an existing on-call landscape installation contract.

Where the $1.3 million would go

On Webb Bridge Road, 271 trees would be installed between the Big Creek Greenway and Webb Bridge Way for $637,777.27. The North Main Street portion, from Cumming Street to Windward Parkway, calls for 260 trees at $658,757.82.

The project also calls for 18,340 linear feet of root barriers along the two roads to keep growing roots from damaging new sidewalks and curbs. Contractor pricing includes roughly $309,000 for watering and associated equipment over the first two years.

The trees themselves would include oaks, hollies, tulip poplars, cypresses, magnolias, American elms, eastern red cedars and dawn redwoods. Most are expected to have trunks roughly three inches in diameter when planted.

Is that a reasonable price?

Public Works staff says it compared the proposed prices with current market conditions and the city’s other landscaping costs in fiscal 2026 and found them competitive. The work is proposed through an existing contractor arrangement, rather than a new standalone bidding process for these two planting jobs.

That explanation does not, by itself, establish whether taxpayers are getting the best possible price. The $2,442 average combines plants and services, and a fair comparison with other cities would need to account for tree sizes, excavation, root barriers, watering and warranty terms.

The two portions are budgeted separately: $637,777.27 from the city’s tree replacement fund for Webb Bridge Road, and $658,757.82 from a State Route 9 landscaping account for Main Street.

Some utility relocation on Webb Bridge Road remains unfinished. Public Works says it will monitor the work and coordinate with utility companies if new plantings are damaged.

There is another cost still to come. Shrubs are not included in the $1.3 million proposal; staff expects to bring forward separate shrub-planting prices in early 2027.

If the contract is approved, the planting is expected to take place this winter and be completed by February 28, 2027.

Residents can attend the City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 9, at Alpharetta City Hall, 2 Park Plaza. The proposal appears as item 6.B on the meeting agenda and packet.