We’ve heard a lot about how to get free trees for parkway strips between the public sidewalk and city streets, but did you know there’s also a city program that both provides and delivers free trees for the yards of private homes?
City Plants, the agency that works with several non-profit groups and LA city departments to distribute more than 20,000 trees a year, now offers an online service that helps you plan your tree planting, choose an appropriate species and location, and delivers the tree directly to your door, with all the supplies you’ll need to install it in your yard…all free of charge.
According to City Plants’ website:Â “Our mission is to grow a greener future for Los Angeles by engaging Angelenos to plant and care for trees throughout the City” and “…we envision a Los Angeles in which people in every neighborhood have equal access to trees and their benefits: clean air, energy efficiency, better health, cooling shade, and friendlier, more vibrant communities.”
You must live within the boundaries of the city of Los Angeles to qualify (not an unincorporated area), but if you are a resident, then beautifying your yard with a new tree from City Plants is a simple four-step process:
- Apply online and create a tree planting plan
- The LA Conservation Corps, one of City Plants’ partner organizations, delivers the 5-gallon tree (along with stakes, ties and fertilizer pellets, to your door
- Plant your tree according to the plan you created on your application, and City Plants’ planting instructions
- Enjoy and maintain your tree
For more information, see https://www.cityplants.org/our-programs/yard-trees/yard-tree-delivery/ or, if you’re ready to get started, you can begin the planning and application process here. The site even includes a full list of available trees, along with information about their size, characteristics and appropriateness for certains kinds of locations (e.g. whether or not they’ll work under overhead power lines).
And finally, if you don’t want to wait for a tree delivery, you can always attend one of City Plants’ tree adoption events (or host one yourself) and take a tree home immediately.
Love City Plants work — and we need a lot more trees to be planted on private property for the sake of our health and environment — but my understanding is that we should not plant Sycamores and London Planes, because of the shot hole borer. We were also advised not to plant Liquid Amber because they also have some kind of pest or blight enemy that stunts their growth or somehow hinders their development. Thanks for your tree articles!