Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) Urban Forestry’s Free Trees for Portland season is here. This year Urban Forestry staff and partners will distribute and plant 8,480 trees, helping grow a greener, healthier city. While all Portland residents are eligible to receive free trees, Urban Forestry staff are prioritizing outreach and plantings in neighborhoods with the City’s lowest tree canopy. Those include the neighborhoods of Argay, Centennial, Creston-Kenilworth, Cully, East Columbia, Glenfair, Foster-Powell, Hayden Island, Hazelwood, Lents, Mill Park, Montavilla, Mt. Scott Arleta, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Powellhurst Gilbert, Russell, South Tabor, Sumner, Sunderland and Wilkes.
For Portlanders in these neighborhoods, Urban Forestry staff can plant and care for trees in rights-of-way with no curb or sidewalk, in planting strips or even in front yards, all for free. Participants can even help choose the species, then relax and let the Urban Forestry team do the rest.
Planting is done with great care. Each participant who signs up gets a custom visit from an arborist who works with them to find the perfect planting spot—and make sure there are no utility conflicts. If an eligible homeowner needs to plant trees to fulfill a replanting permit, this free program fulfills the requirement.
With funding from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), Urban Forestry staff contract with local arborists to plant the trees between November and March. Channeling PCEF funds to sustainably pay local small businesses for tree planting work is an important component of building a community effort.
Visit the Trees for Residential Streets website, portland.gov/GROW, to discover the trees available this year. Email freetrees@portlandoregon.gov or call Urban Forestry at 503.823.4410 with any questions about participating.
Newly planted trees. Photo by Portland Parks & Recreation.
