How to Plant Trees in Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill

Last Updated: January 31, 2023

Trees are very useful structures that are naturally generated in Minecraft. They can give the player many essential resources, such as wood blocks, which are needed early on to progress with game play. There are many different kinds of trees that can be generated, and then planted in game, either in survival or creative mode.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Planting Trees in Survival Mode

1
Choose what kind of tree to plant. Just like in real life, Minecraft has different kinds of trees growing, and it’s important to know what kind of tree you want to plant, especially if you’re hoping to get a particular kind of resource. All trees in Minecraft fall under one of the six basic tree species; acacia, birch, dark oak, jungle, oak, and spruce.^{[1]
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Research source} Below are pointers about what to expect from each kind of tree:
- Acacia trees are the most visually unique kind of tree. They grow in a spiraling pattern, and their wood is more orange than other wood blocks.
- Birch trees grow quickly and are easy to harvest.
- Dark oak trees grow amazingly fast, and their leaves have the chance to spawn apples. Their trunks also grow in a 2x2 pattern, so if you want to harvest lots of wood blocks, this is an ideal tree to plant.
- Jungle trees are the largest kind of tree in Minecraft and are sometimes also referred to as the “jungle giants.” Though planting a jungle tree would be a great way to harvest wood blocks, cutting down jungle trees can be a bit more difficult and potentially dangerous due to how tall they grow.
- Oak trees are the easiest to find and the easiest to grow. The wood harvested from oak trees is the same color as the wood found in naturally generated structures. Like dark oak trees, oak leaf blocks have the chance to spawn apples when destroyed.
- Spruce trees grow very tall, which like the jungle tree could give you a lot of wood blocks to harvest, but also adds some danger due to the height.
2
Find what kind of tree you want to plant. Before you can plant a tree, you’ll need a sapling, which can be harvested from already existing trees. Different kinds of trees grow in different places, so you need to know where to look:
- Acacia trees naturally spawn only in the Savanna biome.
- Birch tress can spawn in various places, but are most commonly found in the birch forest biome and are easy to spot because of the white color of their trunks.
- Dark oak trees generate only in the Roofed Forest biome.
- Jungle trees are found only in the jungle biome.
- Oak trees can be found in many biomes, including Extreme Hills, Forest, Swampland, and Jungle Edge.
- Spruce trees are easiest to find in the Taiga biome but can also spawn naturally in Cold Taiga, Mega Taiga, and Extreme Hills.
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3
Acquire saplings. Unlike many crops in Minecraft, trees don’t grow from seeds, but rather from saplings.^{[2]
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Research source} You can harvest saplings from already existing trees, such as the one you’ve just located. Saplings harvested from a tree will grow the same sort of tree as the one they were harvested from. To harvest a sapling, the easiest way would be to cut down the tree.
- Cutting down a tree can be made easier with the use of an axe, but you can also do it with your bare hands.
- Stand next to the tree and left-click on the woods blocks one at a time, holding down the left mouse button until the wood block drops. When all of the wood blocks have been harvested, the leaf-textured blocks will begin to vanish. Each one has a chance to drop a sapling.
- Pick the saplings up by walking over them.
- If you don’t want to cut down the tree, you can just harvest the leaf blocks by left clicking on them.
- Not all leaf blocks will drop saplings, so it might take you a couple minutes to harvest one.
4
Pick the location to plant. Now that you have the saplings to plant, you need to know where you want your trees growing. Trees are normally planted by the player’s base, spawn point, or house to make them convenient, but they can be planted almost anywhere.
- The block that the sapling is placed on must be dirt, podzol, or grass.
- The sapling will need to have access to light, meaning it will need to be outside or have an alternate light source if grown inside. The two most commonly used alternate light sources are torches and glowstones.
- Trees will not grow through other blocks, so make sure you don’t have anything blocking the way of the sapling in the blocks directly above it.
5
Plant your sapling. Now that you’ve made sure your growing location is ideal, you can plant your sapling by selecting it from your item bar and then right-clicking on the block where you intend to plant it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Planting Trees in Creative Mode

1
Choose what kind of tree to plant. Although planting a tree in Creative mode is a little different, it’s still important to know what kind of tree you want to plant. Since you probably won’t need to take resources into account when playing in creative mode, you’ll want to look at the visual qualities of the different types of tree.
- Acacia are the most unique trees in Minecraft visually speaking. While their trunks are brown and their leaves are green, the wood blocks themselves have a diagonal pattern and the trunks will often grow in a spiraling pattern. Acacia trees can also have multiple canopies.
- Birch trees have leaves that are a pale green with white trunks.
- Dark Oak trees are similar in appearance to the oak trees, but they are a bit darker in the color of both the trunk and leaves.
- Jungle trees are the tallest kind of tree, dark in color and often seen growing vines.
- Oak trees are the most commonly found tree and look the most like a generic tree. The trunks remain straight, and they don’t grow as tall as spruce or jungle trees.
- Spruce trees (also known as pine trees) have the appearance of an evergreen tree. The bark is darker than oak trees or even dark oak trees, and the leaves are more dense with a slightly blue tint in color.
2
Acquire saplings. Getting saplings in creative mode is much easier than getting them in survival mode since you already have access to different kinds of saplings in your inventory and you won’t have to go looking for trees.
- Press E to bring up your inventory. You’ll notice right away that in creative mode you’ll have access to all blocks and materials, which includes saplings.
- You can search items by hitting the search tab in the top-right corner of the window. Search for whichever kind of sapling you’d like to plant or just type in “sapling” to see all your options.
- When you’ve found the sapling of the tree you’d like to plant, just left-click on its icon to put it into your item bar.
3
Pick a place to plant. When you’re in creative mode, planting things can be a lot easier, but if you want your tree to grow properly, there are still some things to keep in mind.
- In order to plant a tree, the block that you’re placing your sapling on must be dirt, podzol, or grass.
- You’ll need to have a light source near your sapling. If you’re planting your tree outside, sunlight will make an ideal light source. If you’re planting a tree inside, torches and glow stones both make excellent alternate light sources.
- You’ll need to make sure there are no blocks directly above your sapling, as trees cannot grow through other blocks.
4
Plant your sapling. Your sapling should still be on your item bar, so you just highlight it by clicking the number that corresponds to whatever slot it’s in.
- For instance, if your sapling is in your second item slot, you’d simply press “2” on your keyboard, to switch over to the sapling.
- You plant the sapling by right-clicking on the block where you’d like to place it.
- If you are new to the game, you can try it first without buying it.^{[3]
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- Minecraft free trials are available to PC and Xbox users.^{[4]
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- You can even use the Minecraft demo version.^{[5]
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Community Q&A

Question

Can dark oak grow in singles?

Community Answer

You need four dark oak saplings to grow one tree.
Question

What do I use to grow jungle sapling?

Gaming_Online

Community Answer

Sunshine, just like any other sapling. But if you want to grow it fast, use bonemeal.
Question

Why won't trees grow underground for me? I am now trying growing them in a 13 X 13 X 13 space -- nine birches -- and they won't do it.

Ellie

Community Answer

The trees aren't growing because they aren't exposed to sunlight. Make sure you plant them outside and they'll grow just fine.