Milford Tree Giveaway 2023

Thank you for a very successful event. All the trees have found their homes in Milford and will benefit our neighborhoods for decades.

The City of Milford is once again excited to be offering 500 ready to plant trees free to Milford residents!

This year’s Tree Giveaway is a tribute to long time Milford educator and nature lover Celine Sandor.

Trees are an essential, beautiful part of our community with enormous ecological and environmental value. Trees around your home increase property value, provide shade, reduce your carbon footprint, improve air quality, and increase quality of life. Planting a tree in your yard is a family event that everyone will enjoy for generations.

Celebrate Earth Day & Arbor Day by planting a tree!

The pickup will be held on Saturday April 29th, Rain or Shine. If it's raining, please bring a kitchen trash bag for the base of your tree to prevent drips in your car.

The Following Trees Are Available for Reservation, 1 tree per household

• A beautiful evergreen with soft, blue-green needles that will provide year-round color in your yard. This magnificent tree produces 3-6 inch cylindrical cones that are an important food source for wildlife. It also provides shelter for numerous birds and small mammals. This hardy tree is a great privacy screen or windbreak. It will enhance your yard and neighborhood for centuries often living over 250 years.
• Available in a #3 container, 2' - 3' tall
• Mature Tree height: 50' - 70' with a 20' - 40' spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

• This upright ornamental tree becomes the highlight of your yard with large, densely-clustered fuchsia red flowers. There are red tones throughout the deep green foliage that turn into a bright fiery orange in the fall. This invaluable species is a major source of nectar and food for pollinators, butterflies, and birds making you yard the go-to hotspot fo local wildlife all year long. It truly lives up to the name Show Time.
• Available in a #7 container, 6' - 8' tall
• Mature Tree: About 25' with a 15' - 20' spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

• This majestic tree provides endless benefits to the environment, wildlife, and neighborhoods. This stunning tree is more than just a sight to behold, it supports thousands of different species, making it a vital contributor to the environment and local wildlife. Red Oaks will have dark green leaves that turn a magnificent red in the fall, it will be the perfect addition to your yard.
• Available in a #3 contrainer, 2' - 3' tall
• Mature Tree: 60' - 70' with a 50' - 60' spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

• This multi-trunked rapid-growing tree is known for its unique papery bark. Large sheets of grayish-brown to tan flaking bark exfoliate to expose a tan to creamy-white to salmon-white inner trunk. It has excellent wildlife value attracting caterpillars, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It has glossy green foliage with an oval growth. It's a true native beauty.
• Available in a #7 container, 5' - 6' tall
• Mature Tree: 40' - 60' with a 25' - 35' spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

• This beautiful ornamental flowering tree produces gorgeous white spring blooms with a pinkish hue. Red tones throughout the glossy green leaves become a bronze-yellow in the fall. This invaluable species is a major source of nectar and food for pollinators, butterflies, and birds making your yard the go-to hotspot for local wildlife all year long. A truely breathtaking tree.
• Available in a #7 container, 5' - 6' tall
• Mature Tree height: About 15' with a similar spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

• The gorgeous Cherokee Princess dogwood is both a flowering and ornamental tree. This dogwood will have a springtime bloom with beautiful white flowers that attract butterflies. It has forest green foliage that emerges burgundy in the spring. The pointy leaves turn an outstanding brick red in the fall. This stunning dogwood will flower profusely which makes it an excellent pollinator-friendly tree.
• Available in a #3 container, 2' - 3' tall
• Mature Tree: 25' - 30' with a similar spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

• The October Glory Red Maple cultivar is noted for its exceptional fall color. It grows in an oval rounded form with attractive red flowers that appear in early spring before the foliage emerges. Birds love the reddish fruit that emerges in the summer. It provides a brilliant orange to red fall color and will be the fall highlight of your yard. You won't go wrong with either of these red maples.
• Available in a #3 container, 3' - 4' tall
• Mature Tree: 40' - 50' with a 30' - 40' spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

• This beautiful tree will be bursting in the spring with white flowers. These are followed by red-purple berries that neighborhood birds will love. Summertime blue-green foliage transforms into beautiful red-orange in the fall. The multi-stem style of this tree will provide a safe place for birds and provide privacy. A true pollinator-friendly treat.
• Available in a #7 container, 4' - 5' tall
• Mature Tree: 15' - 25' with a 15' - 20' spread
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade

• While this tree goes by many names but is known for its eye-catching, long drooping clusters of fringe-like white blooms that appear in late spring. This is a highly fragrant tree that produces blue-black fruit enjoyed by wildlife. The branches grow low to the ground giving it a bushy like appearance. It has dark-green glossy foliage and a pale-gray trunk. 
• Available in a #7 container, 4' - 5' tall
• Mature Tree: This slower growing tree will reach a mature height around 15' - 25' with a similar spread.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

• The Red Sunset Red Maple cultivar is also noted for its exceptional fall color. It grows in an oval rounded form with attractive red flowers that appear in early spring before the foliage emerges. Birds love the reddish fruit that emerges in the summer. It provides a brilliant orange to red fall color and will be the fall highlight of your yard. You won't go wrong with either of these red maples.
• Available in a #3 container, 3' - 4' tall
• Mature Tree: 40' - 50' with a 30' - 40' spread
• Sun Exposure: Fun sun to part shade

Please email jgrant@milfordct.gov if you would like to be placed on a waitlist for one of the reserved tree species.

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Location and Date

This event will be held Saturday, April 29rd, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (rain or shine) - Please enter this date in to your calendar for a reminder.

The trees will be available for pick up in the lower Eisenhower parking lot at 780 North Street.

This is a drive-thru-style event and you may arrive anytime during the pickup window.

Eligibility

Available to current Milford residents, please be prepared to show an ID at pickup.

Trees must be planted in private yards within the City of Milford.

Trees must not be planted in the space between the road and sidewalk.

Limit of 1 tree per household.

Helpful Resources

Arbor Day Foundation How to Plant Containerized Trees - Please watch this 1 minute long video that will help explain how to plant your new tree

Yale URI Importance of Root Flares - video

Arbor Day Foundation Tree Care Tips & Techniques

We encourage you to share photos and the story of your tree on our social media pages.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Jeremy Grant in the Open Space and Sustainability department.

Office Phone: 203-878-7812

Email: jgrant@milfordct.gov

Tree Preregistration Forms:

All the trees have been reserved and planted throughout Milford.