City to give away 250 trees to Sarasota residents

What do dahoon holly, live oak and red maple have in common? They are all trees Sarasota residents can receive for free as part of the Community Canopy program. 

In an effort to expand the urban canopy while reducing energy bills, the city, in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and the Florida Forest Service, will provide 250 trees to residents at no cost.  

Residents can reserve their free trees on the city's website, and each household is allowed two trees. Also on the website, future tree owners can calculate the best planting location to optimize their annual energy savings. 

 “As the trees grow so do the benefits to the community, with less carbon and cleaner air and water,” said Sustainability Manager Stevie Freeman-Montes in a release. 

Since 2017, 559 trees have been planted in Sarasota through the Community Canopy program, with another 250 this year. 

Once mature, Freeman-Montes said the trees will have filtered approximately 25.7 million gallons of stormwater, absorbed 9,000 pounds of air pollutants and captured 3.3 million pounds of carbon.