Tree Giveaway

Available Trees

We are offering a variety of trees, including evergreen and deciduous trees of various sizes and appearances. We choose our trees based on a variety of factors, including native habitat, current and future climate conditions, ease of maintenance, disease and insect resistance, adaptability to a variety of conditions, appearance, regional availability, and low likelihood of limb failure. Applicants can request first, second, and third choices on their application.

If you have questions or need help evaluating your planting site or available tree choices, please email trees@BellevueWA.gov and we will return your inquiry as soon as possible!

Get up to 2 Free Trees

Bellevue residents are eligible to receive up to two free trees per household to plant in their yard. 

These trees are intended to be planted on the applicant's property, not along the street in the right of way, or in any other public space.

For residents unable to pick up their assigned trees, we encourage you to send your pickup event ticket to a friend or family member. For those without any access to a vehicle, we have very limited capacity to deliver trees in select circumstances. For those with particular physical limitations, we will have very limited tree planting assistance available during the month of October. If indicated on your application, we will reach out to arrange assistance.

Apply for trees through the resident application, which will open June 25, 2024.

Individual Renter Households can get up to 2 Free Trees; Multifamily Properties can get up to 20 Free Trees

Renters living in a single-family home or multifamily buildings, such as a condo, townhome, or apartment, can apply through the resident application, starting June 25, 2024. Written consent from the property manager or owner will need to be submitted. Residents can receive up to two trees per household.

Multifamily housing property owners or managers can apply through the organization application, also starting June 25. Multifamily properties can receive up to 20 trees. 

Get up to 20 Free Trees

Trees are also available for local businesses, schools, and community organizations! Eligible community organizations include places of worship, non-profits, small businesses, schools, and other organizations providing a community benefit. Community organizations may receive up to 20 trees for their properties. We can also work with you to help determine the right number and type of trees for your available space.

Please feel free to contact us directly or indicate on your application if you would like a consultation, or to schedule a site visit. During our consultation we can review site conditions (amount of space, any obstacles, etc.) as well as summer watering and maintenance plans. 

Please email trees@BellevueWA.gov with any questions you may have. You can apply for trees through the organization application, opening June 25, 2024.

Educational Opportunities

Is your group interested in learning more about trees and sustainability in Bellevue? Contact trees@BellevueWA.gov to schedule a workshop.

Tree Care and Requirements

Trees are living, growing things and require some ongoing care to thrive, especially in the first few years after planting. We will provide resources on tree planting and care for young trees as well as summer watering reminders to help you succeed. To ensure your tree has the best chance of growing up healthy, we ask that you commit to the following actions to prepare to adopt a new tree:

• Choose the right tree for the right place. If you have a larger space, we encourage you to consider planting a larger tree.
• Properly plant your tree, water your tree each summer for 3-5 years and care for your tree for its life
• Assume future responsibility for maintenance, including summer watering, pruning, raking, etc.
• Learn about the basics of tree care to help your tree thrive! View our training video and resources on tree planting. 

Help Us Plant Trees

We will need assistance from volunteers when we distribute trees, as well as help with delivery and planting for selected residents and community organizations. If you'd like to volunteer to help at our distribution event or plant trees for people who need assistance, sign-ups will be available in September to help. No experience is necessary, and we will provide training. Volunteers must be age 14 or over.

Tree Equity

Our commitment to creating inclusive and equitable opportunities in Bellevue as part of our Diversity Advantage Initiative applies to our urban forest along with other city programs. The Diversity Advantage Plan guides city programs through a set of actions that help our city and city programs grow in cultural competency and appeal to more of our communities.

We studied other tree giveaways around the country (major articles here and here) and discovered that community members most in need were the least likely to receive trees. This means that people who live in areas with high existing tree canopy and high community investment were more likely to participate in tree giveaways than diverse communities. The intent of free giveaways is to help people plant trees, increase tree canopy overall, and help people learn about nature. If most of the trees are going to areas with already high tree canopy and resources, the gap in access to environmental resources continues to widen. In Bellevue, neighborhoods with the lowest canopy cover are also our most diverse. We know that trees won't eliminate disparities and access to resources by themselves, but they are a step toward equitable access to programs and resources in our city.

In Bellevue, income level, immigration status, race, and a myriad of other reasons determine where people live. Where we live has a huge impact on every part of our lives and tree canopy impacts many of them. In general, people who live near trees experience less stress, are less likely to develop heart disease, are less likely to develop a mental illness, do better in school, have more community connections, are less likely to live in an under-resourced or under-served community, and much, much more. Trees are good for us but are just one indicator of investment in communities. This program's aim is to give all our communities additional environmental resources for a healthy, sustainable and equitable future.

There are multiple barriers for many to participate in this kind of program. Sometimes people may not hear about a program because they speak a different language, use different social media, or participate in different projects that our traditional outreach methods haven't served. Some issues, like a lack of trust in government services, can require more nuance to resolve. To start addressing these issues, we are taking the following steps:

1. Working with a consultant who has experience working with diverse groups to build community relationships
2. Focusing additional resources on reach diverse Bellevue community members
3. Trying new outreach strategies
4. Offering smaller, flowering and fruiting trees that are more appropriate for small spaces
5. Offering trees that are similar to those seen in Latin America and China (our target language outreach groups)
6. Providing tree education to help address gaps in tree knowledge and tree care
7. If demand outpaces supply, we will weight applications based on the applicant's Tree Equity Score and language(s) spoken to ensure diverse applicants receive trees