City of Orlando offering citizens free trees

ORLANDO, Fla – The city beautiful is continuing its efforts to create a more sustainable community, while also pairing with its citizens to increase property values and create energy savings.

Orlando is beginning its "Energy-Saving Trees" program, which is designed to give citizens within city limits the opportunity to receive a free tree and better understand where to plant them on their property.

A joint production between the City of Orlando and the Arbor Day Foundation, the stated goal of the initiative according to the official program website is, "transforming the urban environment to conserve, preserve and reuse valuable resources, ensuring a more livable Orlando for future generations to come."

The website also cites the statistic that if every resident were to plant a tree on their property, the city's tree canopy would increase from 25 to 40 percent, which would be akin to taking nearly 40,000 vehicles off the road, and help to begin alleviating some of the damage sustained by Hurricane Irma.

The program is a facet of Mayor Buddy Dyer's Green Works Orlando intiative.

Currently, available tree types are Live Oak, Cypress, Dahoon Holly, Nuttall Oak, and Persimmon.

This program is only open to Orlando residents living within city limits. If you are unsure if you qualify, you can check out your address at http://www2.cityoforlando.net/orlandoinformationlocator/

For more information about ordering your free tree, or where to best plant in your area, go to https://energysavingtrees.arborday.org/?partnerCode=07413#Start.