Posted by: Viviane Templeton
Tree for your front yard? Look into the Trees in Trust Program
If your city-owned street frontage lacks a tree, the city can provide and plant one through the Trees and Trust Program.
Make a request, as the property owner, online through ottawa.ca/treesintrust or call 3-1-1.
- A city forestry inspector will visit and assess your site for suitability.
- If it’s a go, tree recommendations will be made from a range of available species suitable for your space and you decide from the list.
- The city will then purchase and plant the tree during the closest available spring or fall planting season, on a first-come, first-served basis.
- All you have to do is commit to watering the tree for three years.
My colleague and I had a chance to speak to a few Old Ottawa South (OOS) residents about their experiences with the program. They were pleased with their trees and all aspects of the program delivery. When asked about the key program benefits, cost savings first came to mind – a free tree and free planting. As this is a city tree, homeowners can also access a city tree specialist just a 3-1-1 call away, should the tree seem diseased or damaged.
Tree for your back yard? Look into the Plant Your Place Program!
Plant Your Place Program! is a City of Ottawa initiative established in 2025 and delivered by EnviroCentre.
OOS homeowners can apply for one free tree to plant on their private property. They are responsible for selecting the tree species, picking up and planting the tree as well as its continuing care and maintenance.
This is a spring initiative for OOS. Registration opened on a first-come first-served basis on March 9, 2026 for the city-wide distribution stream of the program; the stream for which OOS homeowners in Capital Ward 17 are solely eligible. There are 2400 trees available in 2026.
Note: Homeowners are responsible for providing the following information online through the Plantyourplace.ca site before a tree will be reserved for them:
- Registering to ensure that eligibility criteria are met. The registration input process will require homeowners to indicate if there is sufficient space to support a tree. For instance, at this point, the homeowner needs to determine where the tree will be planted and its distance in meters from other trees or building foundations.
- selecting a tree from 16 tree species, typically between 1.5-2.5 m tall
- choosing one of 4 distribution locations, each having a unique pickup date, three in May and one in early June. Then choosing a specific pick-up time for that date.
Prior to reserving a tree online, it is advised that homeowners avail themselves of the resources, tree guide and tree care information sources for the distribution stream. This information can be found on the top left section of the Plantyourplace.ca site. These sources provide guidance on site and species selection and tree species description and growing conditions. There is also detailed information on tree planting and its care and maintenance.
If a spring 2026 pickup date is not suitable, keep the program in mind for next year.
Viviane Templeton lives in Old Ottawa South and is a member of the Enviro Crew’s Tree Team. Contact Enviro Crew at: envirocrewOOS@gmail.com
Featured in the May 2026 OSCAR.