Throwing shade: How to get 2 free trees from SRP this summer
It’s no secret that Arizona gets during the summer. And as temperatures continue to rise each year, so do electric bills.
That’s why the Salt River Project is giving out free trees.
Now in its 13th year, SRP’s Shade Tree program is a free workshop offered twice a year to the power and water company’s roughly 2 million residential customers. Participants who attend one virtual shade tree workshop receive two free saplings to plant in their yards that will eventually provide shade for their homes.
The trees can make a big difference. Depending on their placement, trees “can save up to 25% of the energy a typical household uses,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
This summer, SRP customers can participate in one of three virtual classes that take place on July 13, Aug. 1 and Aug. 24. Only customers with the legal right to plant trees on residential properties that SRP services are eligible. Additional stipulations and registration links are listed on SRP’s website.
“SRP is very committed to helping mitigate that heat island effect that we have every summer,” said Tanya Hughes, senior activation strategist for SRP. “And planting more trees is certainly a very good way to do this.”
Currently, SRP offers six types of desert-adapted trees that thrive in Phoenix’s dry, harsh heat: desert willow, lilac chaste, native mesquite, palo verde, thornless mesquite and willow acacia.
Which tree workshop participants should select ultimately boils down to personal preference. Hughes recommended checking SRP’s website to review each tree’s potential size. “Some of the newer homes do not have enough space to plant a tree,” she said. As such, smaller trees, such as lilac chaste or desert willow, which can be groomed into bushes, may be better options for some people.
How to get your trees
Before receiving their trees, workshop participants learn how to select, plant and care for them. The 75-minute sessions are hosted by Trees Matter, a local environmental education nonprofit that promotes increased tree canopy in the Valley. Experts from the organization are on-hand to answer participants’ questions, tree-related and otherwise.
“We encourage people to bring their (general) yard questions, because we have master gardeners on the webinar,” Hughes said.
Attendees choose their trees after the webinar concludes, along with a pick-up day at one of three locations in the west, east or central parts of the Valley. Customers will pick up their trees in a drive-thru line, which Hughes said can take “anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.”
Non-SRP customers hoping to learn about trees and maybe snag a free one aren’t completely out of luck, though. Hughes encourages those people to contact Trees Matter, which works with other Valley cities to host similar programs.
“Many cities have earned government grants to teach their residents more about trees and give trees away,” she said. “Trees Matter is helping a lot of different cities, which is really exciting.”