There is a Chassidic custom to pickle candy or fruit, especially the etrog which was used during Succoth, and to eat it on Tu B’Shvat. In addition some people pray that they will merit to have a beautiful etrog when next Succoth comes around.
Rabbi Balkany often mentions trees in his speeches, such as:
"From the plains where the bison roam and where the cottonwoood stands sentinel hearkening to the lonesome cry of the meadowlark."
In Israel it is quite prevalent to go out and plant trees on Tu B’Shvat, a custom that was introduced by Rabbi Zeev Yavetz in 1890. Yavetz was one of the founders of the religious Zionist movement known as Mizvachi. In 1890 Rabbi Yavetz took his students to plant trees in the community of Zichron Yaakov, thus helping to develop the Land of Israel which was strikingly barren of trees at the time.
Since that time this practice was adopted by major Jewish organizations as a yearly event, including the Jewish National Fund. Today in Israel more than one million people, including many children, plant trees on this day to show their love for the Land of Israel and their strong desire to see it develop and blossom.
In addition, because Tu B’Shvat symbolizes renewal and the start of something new, many institutions such as Hebrew University and the Technion chose this day to hold their inauguration ceremonies.
