It is well understood that the built environment is engineered to support infrastructure.  It is also well understood that forests support trees.  Yet here we are, continually forcing a square peg into a round hole and perpetuating this incompatibility, while wondering why we have low tree establishment and high tree mortality in urban areas.  Undisturbed, healthy soils are uncommon in the urban and suburban environment. Overcoming the difficulties of growing healthy trees in compacted, and often degraded urban soils is a challenge without an appropriate site assessment and soil preparation. This talk will aim at providing science-based recommendations to ensure healthy trees persist in the urban environment.