Before it gets its seasonal blanket of white, Denver celebrated being a bit more green Thursday.

As part of the city’s efforts toward meeting its annual climate goals, Denver celebrated its 4,500th newly-planted tree this year, according to a news release from Denver Parks and Recreation.

“Projects like this are essential as we continue to address the heat island effect in our communities,” said Parks and Recreation Executive Director Jolon Clark in the release. “The trees planted this year will provide long-term benefits — cleaner air, cooling shade and gathering places all for a more resilient city.”

The Tulip tree planted Thursday is one of about 150 unique species forestry staff planted throughout many west neighborhood parks this year, according to the release. Many of the new trees came in addition to the routine replacements in parks and parkways throughout the city.

City officials such as Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Councilmember Darrell Watson and the Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency Office celebrated the tree planting Friday at Benedict Fountain Park.

The 16th Street rennovation project, which wrapped last month, accounted for many of those trees — 200 of them.

Consisting of nearly one million pavers and over 200 new trees, the 16th Street roadway was one of the more technically-challenging projects ever undertaken by landscape architecture firm Dig Studio, said co-founder Bill Vitek.

One reason why, Vitek said, was that, with the desire to create a better leafy canopy for pedestrians, the firm planted the trees in a soil cell system, which allows for roots, and therefore the trees, to grow bigger than they would in a normal five-by-five hole.

“Today is about investing in Denver’s future as a greener, more resilient city,” Johnston said in the release. “We’re proud to have met this ambitious goal and will continue working toward solutions that improve our climate, for this generation and the ones to come.”