WES Blog — Free Trees

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From the Earth Ethics Action Team

As WES moves forward with Casey Trees to plant three trees on the grounds, the Earth Ethics Action Team has information for congregants to get free trees for their own property to

  • Improve air & water quality
  • Cool homes and reduce energy bills
  • Beautify neighborhoods
  • Reduce global warming

If you’d like help finding more programs, in different jurisdictions, as Private owners or landlords, single-family or multi-unit homes, please contact Laura Briskin-Limehouse at laura.briskin.limehouse@gmail.com. If you’d like to learn more about the EEAT or Baltimore City trees, contact Rich Reis at rich.reis1@gmail.com.

DC

The district offers free shade trees native to the area for your property through the Department of Energy & Environment’s RiverSmart program. The RiverSmart program provides free site audits to look at which features — such as rain barrels, shade trees, rain gardens, BayScaping, permeable pavers, or re-vegetation — are appropriate to your property and then you choose what you want to do.

An overview of joining the program (and a link to the application) is available here: https://doee.dc.gov/service/steps-become-riversmart-homeowner

An overview of the shade tree portion of the program is available here:
https://doee.dc.gov/service/riversmart-homes-shade-tree-planting

And if you want to plant a tree more immediately, without waiting for the DOEE’s program, there are rebates for planting trees through Casey Trees available here: https://caseytrees.org/resources/tree-rebate/

The Department of Transportation in DC is responsible for planting and maintaining street trees. They have an adopt-a-tree program here, called Canopy Keeper, where they supply you with some tools for watering trees (after you agree to water newly planted trees once a week for two years). You can request that they plant a tree by calling 311 or going to 311.dc.gov — any trees requested between now and June 15th 2021 should be planted between October 2021 and March 2022.

Montgomery County

Reforest Montgomery’s application process for the spring planting season is open from October 1st until all their funds/trees for the season are spoken for. Check if you’re in the area they’re looking to concentrate on here. They’re popular, so if you’re interested, please sign up as close to October 1st as you can.

The application for Reforest Montgomery trees is available here: https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/environment/forest-conservation-and-trees/reforest-montgomery/free-shade-tree-form/

If you’re outside the area Reforest Montgomery is prioritizing, you can get on Tree Montgomery’s waiting list for free trees here: https://treemontgomery.org/request-a-tree/. If you would rather plant sooner, there are rebates to off-set some of the cost through Reforest Montgomery and several other programs (click the ‘Coupons for Trees and More’ button).

Prince George’s County

Prince George’s County provides rebates up to $150 to plant native trees — information on the rebates can be found here, and other programs for public spaces and schools is available here. The non-profit Global Health Projects has a Family Tree Adoption program that provides up to three native trees or shrubs to private homeowners; their application form is available here. Residents of PG’s are also eligible for rebates through Maryland-wide programs like Marylanders Plant Trees.