Delta council wants to get homeowners involved in saving the planet by giving them free trees.
Politicians supported an engineering department plan at the July 24th council meeting to give away 500 suitable trees to residents this year. The trees will be delivered to people’s homes with instructions on planting and then how to care for the tree. To ensure the trees are not later resold, the city will collect a deposit on each tree, then return that once the tree has been planted.
The program is similar to a program earlier this year when the city offered 100 free trees under its Urban Forest Strategy. Those trees were all given away in the first two hours of the engineering department’s open house in June.
While the city focuses on planting on city boulevards, in parks, natural areas and school grounds, there are limitations because of utility infrastructure and from residents who don’t want trees on a boulevard in front of their home.
Staff have also approached the Delta School District and the Ministry of Highways Transportation and Infrastructure for more areas in which to plant trees, but have met with limited or no success, said a staff report presented to council.
From 2018 to 2022, the city has planted an average of 1,400 trees per year.
A similar number is expected to be planted in 2023, says the report.
It’s estimated it will cost $125,000 to buy and deliver the trees to Delta residents.
