[3] By the end of 2023, The Greening of Detroit’s decades-long efforts had resulted in over 146,000 trees planted[4] with financial support from generous families, foundations and corporate partners, and with the help of tens of thousands of volunteers.

[5][6] The group is working to use bioremediation techniques to restore contaminated land in the city, including an abandoned lot owned by Detroit Public Schools.

[12] Although they recognized the benefits of urban forestry, their personal experiences with the city government's initial deforestation of the area after the 1967 Detroit riot led to distrust.

The city government's stated reason for deforesting the area was to control the spread of Dutch elm disease, including spraying DDT from helicopters over residential areas, but some African-American women interviewed by Carmichael viewed the deforestation and helicopters as increased surveillance of their communities in response to racial tensions, and consequently did not trust reforestation efforts.

[12] In 2014, some residents also protested against Greening's removal of playground structures and planting trees in southwest Detroit's Bridgeview Park.

Greening's intent was to remove contaminants such as arsenic and lead with the new trees through phytoremediation, but residents voiced concerns such as that they didn't get to give input on the project, especially as a Black community; digging health hazards; and a possible rodent population increase.

[14] They were also not informed of the contaminated soil by the time the project started, although the Detroit Public Schools district, which held ownership of the land, had previously erected a fence to prevent trespassing.

[15] In response to Carmichael's study, Greening expanded involvement of residents in planning and planting, as well as increased their number of community-engagement members from one person to four people, all of whom lived in Detroit.