# For residents: how to green where you live

> Plain guidance for yards, land and apartments, then the government programs and local organizations that help. Programs: https://treerm.org/residents/programs.md

## I have a yard

One well-placed tree does more for a house than most renovations: shade in summer, a windbreak in winter, and something to look at for fifty years.

- **Pick the spot before the tree.** Look up for power lines and out for the mature spread, not the sapling. Large shade trees belong 4.5 m (15 ft) or more from foundations and walls; small flowering trees can sit closer. In the US, call 811 before you dig; it's free and it's the law.
- **Pick the tree for the spot.** Native and locally recommended species take less water and shrug off local pests. The tree directory below shows what's native, what does well, and what to avoid where you live.
- **Get it free or cheap.** Many cities, utilities and nonprofits hand out free or discounted trees to residents each planting season. Street-tree request lines plant on the public strip at no cost. The programs for your area are listed below.
- **Plant in the dormant season, then water like you mean it.** Fall through early spring in most climates. Dig the hole wide, not deep; keep the root flare at grade; mulch a wide ring, not a volcano against the trunk. Water deeply once or twice a week through the first two summers. Don't top it, ever.

## I manage land

Acreage changes the question from which tree to which forest. Most places have a government forester who will walk the land with you for free.

- **Start with the goal.** Timber, wildlife, shade for livestock, erosion control, carbon, or just a woodland to leave behind: each points to different species, spacing and help.
- **Ask the state or provincial forestry agency first.** In most of the US a state forester provides a free site visit and a stewardship plan. Equivalent services exist in Canada's provinces, the UK nations, Ireland and Australia's states.
- **Use the cost-share.** Federal and state programs pay a share of planting and fencing: in the US, USDA's EQIP and the Conservation Reserve Program; in the UK, the woodland creation offers; in Ireland, the afforestation schemes. Deadlines are annual and paperwork is real; the programs below link to the current rules.
- **Buy seedlings by the hundred.** State nurseries and conservation districts sell bare-root natives cheaply in winter. Plant mixed species, protect from deer and drought the first years, and keep records: you'll want them for certification and for the next owner.

## I rent, or live in an apartment

You don't need a yard to change the block. Most of the trees on a city street were asked for by someone who lived in an apartment nearby.

- **Request a street tree.** Many cities plant on the public strip at no cost, and renters can ask. Look for a 311 line or 'request a tree' page; they're in the list below where we have them.
- **Adopt the one that's already there.** Young street trees die of thirst, not age. Many cities and tree groups give watering kits and ask residents to take a tree. Twenty gallons a week in summer is the whole job.
- **Show up to a planting.** Volunteer days are the fastest way to put trees in the ground without owning any of it. The events page lists the ones near you with links to register.
- **Grow one on the balcony, and ask about the grounds.** Dwarf fruit trees, olives, figs or a Japanese maple live happily in a 60-litre (16-gallon) pot with sun and water. Building owners, HOAs, schools and congregations own a lot of lawn; most say yes when someone offers to organize the planting and the care.

Add ?near=City, Region to this page for programs where you live.