Free Trees

By Carol Nagy Jacklin

Fall is the perfect time to plant trees, and as luck would have it, there is a countywide program giving away trees.

You can get up to five large shade trees if you are a resident of San Diego County and a customer of SDGE utility company. The program also will donate trees to K-12 schools in San Diego County. Schools can receive an unlimited number of trees.

In addition to being beautiful, trees save energy. If are planted on the west and south sides of your home, they will keep it cooler in the summer, so you won’t need to use as much electricity for air conditioning or fans. If the trees are deciduous — that is, they lose their leaves in the winter — they still allow the sun to warm you in the winter and keep your heating bill as low as possible. If your home is exposed to the wind, planting evergreen trees can cut down the heat that leaks from your home in winter.

The Cool Communities Program is designed by the County Regional Energy office, People for Trees, and SDGE. According to program manager Adrienne McCrumb, 1,317 trees were planted through Cool Communities in July, and 11,000 trees have been planted since the program began.

More than 10,000 free trees are still available.

Program leaders calculate that 17,000 trees would save 3.6 megawatts of total energy countywide. That’s enough energy to power 3,600 homes for a whole year!

There are many kinds of trees to choose from that will grow happily in our area. Here are just a few examples: Purple Leaf Plum, Crape Myrtle, Bradford Pear, Fruitless Mulberry, Purple Robe Locust, Liquidambar. Cool Communities is also giving away some evergreen trees, notably the Coastal Live Oak. You can choose the trees you would like to plant from the program’s available list. All trees are 10- to 15-gallon, nursery-quality specimens.

What’s the catch? There are some requirements:

• Apply for the trees. This process lets you confirm that you are a resident of the county and you have SDGE service. The application allows program staff members to check on your residency and your participation in the SDGE “grid.”

• Attend a seminar on tree planting.

• Plant the trees. Your property will be checked for the planted trees. They feel, I think rightly, that the trees should not be wasted or resold.

The tree-planting seminars are located in areas where groups of people have applied for trees. So far, several people from Julian have gone through the program and planted their trees. But these residents had to go some distance for the seminars. If lots of local residents apply, a seminar will be held much closer, possibly in Julian or Ramona.

Fall is the best time to plant trees. As the weather cools, the trees will have less of a shock moving from nursery to home conditions. Yet there is still some warmth left for the tree roots to get acclimated and even to start to grow. The winter rains will help ensure your new tree root systems don’t dry out. Then, in the spring, your trees will be ready to take off in their new homes.

Walk around your own property and see where five new trees could add to the beauty and energy-efficiency of your home. You might want a grove of one type, or you might want to mix several kinds for your five-tree allotment. Some of the trees have fall color; some have spring flowers. As long as the tree will be happy in our climate, it’s hard to go wrong.

So what are you waiting for? Call for a tree booklet, planting guide and application toll-free at 1-888-831-8620. Or download the booklet, application, and planting guide at www.trees.sd energy.org.

Trees clean our air; they add beauty and property value to our homes, enhance neighborhood appearance, reduce storm runoff and save energy. I’ve called for my booklet and application. I hope to see you at a seminar.