BATON ROUGE - A pruning endeavor is underway on streets throughout the Garden District in Baton Rouge. It's part of an effort to save the beloved Live Oak trees, which are a staple of the old neighborhood.

This week, Bayou Tree Service started work trimming trees on a median along Park Blvd. It's work that is at least two decades in the making.

Kimberly Coffey is on the board of the Garden District's Civic Association. A few years ago, the association learned from an arborist that the gorgeous trees that line their streets are in trouble and it's up to them to take action.

"The trees were in dire need," Coffey said.

The Civic Association started Live Oak Love Collective to bring awareness and help raise money to restore the trees. Last year, 18 of the Live Oaks in the Garden District were tended to. The organization was able to raise about $10,000 to prune 10 more trees.

This is the third of 18 medians Bayou Tree Service has trimmed in the neighborhood. There's still a lot of money to be raised and a lot more trees to trim.

The Live Oak Love Collective has about 150 trees left to address. The neighborhood says it's hoping to raise about $175,000 to tackle the rest of the project.

"There's so many advantages of taking care of the trees," Coffey said. "It protects the trees for the future, it ensures the trees are healthy, it also makes the neighborhood safer because the dead limbs can fall and be a safety hazard."

Coffey says the funds to trim the trees were raised by people who live in the Garden District.

"You can see the fruit of that effort here, people came together," she said.

The Live Oaks were planted by a developer in the early 1900s and have grown into the impressive sight they are now.

To learn more about the Live Oak Love Collective, click here.