The City of Olympia has a wonderful urban forestry program called NeighborWoods.  The goal is to have more tree lines streets, which add more appeal, provide shade and habitat. In exchange for planting and caring for the trees (watering, pruning, mulching), the city provides the trees for free. The only prerequisites are that the applicants reside within the city of Olympia, that the trees are planted on the green strips between the street and the sidewalks, and that the applicants attend a four-hour training workshop. The workshop is also free, so it's really a sweet deal. I've applied for the program and found the application process very simple and the workshop was fun, with hands-on training on how to correctly plant a tree.

The best part is selecting the kinds of trees you'd like to have. Someone from the urban forestry department will come out to your site to give advice and recommend the right species for the location. For example, in my case, one side of the street has low power lines. The trees I selected for this location had to be a species that doesn't get too tall to interfere with the power cables. I selected and received a total of five trees, that I planted all in one day. I love the trees. They give my home more curb appeal, and make the neighborhood green.

For anyone interested in receiving their free trees and learning how to care for them, you can check the next scheduled workshop here.

http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/cityservices/urbanforest/neighborwoods/NWoodsSchedule.htm

Sandy Nelson
Realtor for Olympia Area Real Estate
www.sandynelsonrealestate.com