Trees benefit your property and our world in so many ways; and this spring, all Denver residents can get free trees. Free trees will be distributed by The Park People’s annual Denver Digs Trees street tree program and also the city’s Mile High Million tree planting initiative.
If your property meets the criteria, the City of Denver will even plant your tree and take responsibility for contacting the power company before digging. Now that is an offer I can't refuse: I just filled out a simple form online to apply for free trees.
My little corner of Denver includes three Emerald Queen maple trees acquired for almost free through the city at least 20 years ago. I think I paid $10 per tree--a portion of what a tree costs from a nursery. I applied for hawthornes, but the city ran out; so I got maples, instead. The saplings have grown into beautiful, mature trees. The maples provide much needed shade for my southwest corner. And, naturally, the trees add a lot to my landscape's right-of-way, also known as a hell strips.
Residents of the City and County of Denver may apply for free trees to plant along the street in the public right-of-way. Additionally, if you have adequate space for trees on the west side of your home – whether that means your front, back, or side yards or along the street – you are eligible to have trees delivered and planted.
Availability of free trees will be limited, and applications are due no later than February 15, 2012. Visit www.theparkpeople.orgor call 303-722-6262 for more details and application information.
A few bullet points from the website:
- Contact us and let us know that you are interested in a tree. We can be reached by phone at 720-913-0681 or by email at million.trees@denvergov.org or feel free to use our online form by clicking here.
- We will call and have your underground utilities marked.
- Mile High Million staff will visit your property to determine if there is space for a tree to be planted and to mark the location with spray paint and a flag. The flag will be labeled with S, M, or L to note what size class of tree will be planted.
- You will have one week to approve the tree location as marked; a non-response will indicate your approval.
- You will be notified of the time frame in which The Mile High Million Contractor will plant and mulch your new tree.
- Water and watch your new tree grow!
••• Cultivate your corner of the world: You grow your garden; your garden grows you.
Colleen Smith gardens in and writes from a historic neighborhood in central Denver. Her second book, "Laid-Back Skier," was released in September 2011 and is available through FridayJonesPublishing.com or Amazon.com and in bookstores and boutiques.
Colleen Smith's first novel, "Glass Halo," was a finalist for the 2010 Santa Fe Literary Prize.
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