Green where you live.

Across Ohio

United States

Trees for this area

All trees for this area

1. Choose the spot before the tree.

   Look up for power lines, and look out for the mature spread, which is the width the tree will reach in thirty years rather than the width of the sapling. A large shade tree needs 4.5 m (15 ft) or more from foundations and walls, while a small flowering tree can sit closer. In the US, call 811 before you dig; the service is free, and the law requires it.

2. Choose the tree for the spot.

   Native and locally recommended species need less water once they are established, and they have lived alongside the local insects long enough to handle them. The tree directory shows you what is native where you live, what does well there, and what to avoid.

3. Find out who will give you one.

   Many cities, utilities and nonprofits give away or discount trees to residents each planting season, and most street-tree request lines will plant on the public strip at no cost to you. The programs for your area are listed below once you tell us where you live.

4. Plant while the tree is dormant, then keep watering.

   Fall through early spring is planting season in most climates, because roots keep growing while the top rests. Dig the hole wide rather than deep, keep the root flare level with the ground, and mulch a wide ring that stops short of the trunk. Water deeply once or twice a week through the first two summers, since most young trees that die do so from thirst. Never top a tree; the cuts invite decay and weak regrowth.

1. Begin with what you want the land to do.

   Timber, wildlife, shade for livestock, erosion control, carbon, or simply a woodland to leave behind each call for different species, spacing and kinds of help. Knowing the goal makes every later choice easier.

2. Ask your state or provincial forestry agency first.

   In most of the US a state forester will visit the site and write a stewardship plan at no cost. Canada's provinces, the UK nations, Ireland and Australia's states offer a similar service.

3. Use the cost-share programs.

   Federal and state programs pay a share of planting and fencing. In the US that means USDA's EQIP and the Conservation Reserve Program; in the UK, the woodland creation offers; in Ireland, the afforestation schemes. Deadlines come once a year and the paperwork takes time, so the programs below link to the current rules.

4. Buy seedlings by the hundred.

   State nurseries and conservation districts sell bare-root native seedlings cheaply in winter. Plant a mix of species, protect them from deer and drought for the first few years, and keep records of what went where, because certification and the next owner will both ask.

1. Ask for a street tree.

   Many cities plant on the public strip at no cost, and renters are welcome to ask. Look for a 311 line or a request-a-tree page; where we have one for your city, it appears in the list below.

2. Look after the one that is already there.

   Young street trees usually die of thirst rather than age. Many cities and tree groups hand out watering kits and ask residents to take on a tree, and twenty gallons a week through the summer is most of the work.

3. Come to a planting day.

   Volunteer plantings are the quickest way to put trees in the ground without owning any land. The events page lists the ones near you, with links to register with the organization running each one.

4. Grow one on the balcony, and ask about the grounds.

   A dwarf fruit tree, an olive, a fig or a Japanese maple will live comfortably in a 60-litre (16-gallon) pot given sun and regular water. Building owners, HOAs, schools and congregations hold a great deal of lawn, and most will say yes when someone offers to organize the planting and the care.