University Park

Free Street Trees for in front of your house - Denver Digs Trees

Forms to be mailes this Fall for April distribution

If these long, hot days have you longing for more shade, you probably wish you had planted more trees. Now is the right time to start thinking about planting trees next spring. The Park People, a non-profit organization, is currently collecting names of Denver residents interested in applying for free street trees available through their Denver Digs Trees program. 2003 Denver Digs Trees forms will be mailed this fall, and trees will be distributed in April 2003. More than a dozen varieties of shade trees will be offered for street trees, including species that are drought-tolerant at maturity.
This year, The Park People's Denver Digs Trees program distributed 1,250 free trees for planting along streets. Another 1,100 were sold for planting in yards. Since the program's beginning, it has added more than 23,000 trees to Denver's urban forest. The Denver Digs Trees program received a 2002 National Arbor Day Award for its significant contribution to our community.
By planting a tree, you will not only help shade your street and yard, you'll also help enhance the beauty of your neighborhood. The benefits of a vibrant urban forest are compelling. Trees help clean our air, produce oxygen, shade our homes and cut cooling costs, provide habitat for songbirds, act as a windbreak to cut heating costs, reduce storm water runoff, increase property values, and - perhaps most compelling - beautify our neighborhoods. These benefits and others provide hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental and economic benefits. While the Denver Metro area's tree canopy has increased over the past 15 years, it has not kept pace with urban and suburban sprawl.
The free street tree program is made possible through the support of private donations and the City & County of Denver's Forestry Department.
To receive your 2003 Denver Digs Trees form, make a donation, or volunteer, call The Park People at 303-722-6262, or email them at parkpeople@earthlink.net.

The Park People is a non-profit organization that funds and sponsors projects benefiting the parks, parkways and public trees of the City and County of Denver. Its mission is to enhance the beauty, foster appreciation, encourage activities, improve existing amenities, increase public support and further develop the parks and recreational opportunities, thus conserving and expanding Denver's legacy of parks and tree-lined streets for all citizens.