Get out your gardening trowel and green thumb, because the city of Healdsburg is giving away free saplings in celebration of Earth Day and as means to help reduce energy costs and absorb air pollutants like carbon dioxide.
“I think we just wanted to acknowledge Earth Day in a way that was actionable,” said Felicia Smith, a utility conservation analyst with the city who’s organizing the giveaway.
This is the city’s first time conducting the shade tree giveaway. Residents can place their order now and trees will be available for pick up on April 20.
Other cities such as Redding have participated in this activity.
“Through the Arbor Day Foundation they’ve kind of created this program that’s ready made for cities and so I think from the city of Redding I heard about it and thought, ‘That’s just a great shout-out to Earth Day,’” Smith said.
The offer is available to Healdsburg utility customers only. Utility customers who sign up can select up to two trees from a choice of four: Strawberry, Western Redbud, Crape Myrtle, or a Chinese Pistache Tree.
Smith consulted landscape experts to get a sense of what trees are most popular around town and from there they made their selection. Smith also wanted to choose trees that were both low-maintenance and drought resistant.
“We have four species that we picked with the intention of being low water use and somewhat fire resistant,” Smith said.
Saplings can start at around $85 in nurseries. But it’s not only a good opportunity to get a free tree, but it’s also a good opportunity to cut energy use and sequester carbon.
According to Smith, if you strategically place your tree on the south or west side of your home it can act as a barrier to direct sunlight that can potentially come into your windows, which then could help save energy.
To test this energy saving tactic, we visited the website (https://bit.ly/2YivXqz) and used the energy saving tree selection tool to see how much we could save at the Healdsburg Tribune office at 230 Center St.
We started by entering our address, whereupon it prompted us to select a tree and outline the perimeter of the property. Using a green, click and drag button, we were able to explore where best to place the tree.
Using this tool, we discovered that if we selected a Strawberry Tree and planted it on the street-facing side of the building, we could save $10.31 in energy costs and save 971.02 kilowatt hours worth of energy a year.
The tree would also absorb 8.18 pounds of air pollutants and would filter 6,773.57 gallons of storm water.
Overall, a young tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 13 pounds per tree each year and by the time a tree reaches 40 years old it can sequester one ton of carbon.
“I think it is important that the city and our residents do everything that we can to help conserve energy and to do our part in combating climate change,” said city spokeswoman Rhea Borja when asked why recognizing Earth Day is so important. “It’s a very small effort, but it is also a meaningful effort — it tells people that their actions matter. Planting one to two trees isn’t going to save the Earth, but collectively we can effect change.”
What’s more, these four species of trees are very easy to maintain, so you don’t have to worry about being a master gardener, although Smith said they would require more watering than usual until they’re fully grown.
She said they would also require some minor pruning. Trees will be available for pick up on April 20. A master gardener will be on hand to answer basic care questions and folks will be on hand to help load trees.
At the time of this writing there were still 100 trees available, however, Smith said if you are interested in reserving your tree, you should do so sooner rather than later.
If there are any trees leftover the city parks department will plant them. To reserve your tree, visit: https://bit.ly/2YivXqz.
