As a part of the City’s Arbor Day celebration the City of Middletown and Middletown’s Park Board is gave away free trees to help build and strengthen the city's tree canopy. This program allowed the City to provide trees at a $75 value to Middletown property owners at no cost. The tree giveaway was available to Middletown residents. Only those residents that live inside the city limits qualified for the tree giveaway.
The "tree canopy" is a term used to describe how many trees and how much coverage they provide to offset the impacts of air pollution, urban heat island effect, residential energy demands and storm water management.
Just one large canopy deciduous tree, such as an oak or sycamore, can help control 400 to 1,000 gallons of storm water through canopy interception. This benefits homeowners by adding shade, beauty, reducing soil erosion, and managing flooding from rainfall.
The goal of the giveaway was to increase the city’s overall tree canopy on residential property (commercial property was not eligible for this program), promote a healthier environment and improve the physical appearance and visual character of the built environment.
The giveaway was made possible by the City of Middletown, Middletown Park Board, OKI Regional Council of Governments, and Natorp’s Landscape Supply.
This giveaway's tree selection included: Red Maples, Sugar Maples, Freeman Maples, Eastern Redbuds, Tulip Trees, Crabapples, Dawn Redwoods, Black Tupelo, London Planetree, Swamp White Oak, Bur Oak, Red Oak, Japanese Lilac Tree, and hybrid Elms.
Reservations and details were made and found through the link below.
For statistics check out the events "BY THE NUMBERS" page.
Also be sure to check out the "COMMUNITY PHOTOS" page to see the community's involvement!
