CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Charlottesville Department of Utilities customers will have the opportunity to receive one of 200 free trees to plant on their property as part of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees Program.

The trees will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and can be reserved using the Department of Utilities’ interactive tree portal, provided by the Arbor Day Foundation, beginning on Monday. Each service address will be limited to one tree, and customers can choose between four varieties; witchhazel, black haw viburnum,  black cherry and tuliptree.

“The idea is as the trees grow, that they’ll provide cooling shade in the warm months, and they’ll provide blocking, the ability to block cold winds in the winter months,” Utilities Outreach Program Coordinator Ryan Willis told Cville Right Now, “and all that should help translate to a more comfortable home and lower energy costs. But it also has a lot of fringe benefits that benefit the broader community.”

This will be the seventh time the Department of Utilities has run this initiative with the Arbor Day Foundation, with over 1,100 total trees already distributed. The program began as an annual event in 2022 but has been ran biannually in both the spring and fall since 2024.

The trees available are pre-selected by the city’s Arborist from a master list curated by the Arbor Day Foundation. The Arborist looks to select varieties native to the area as well as a variety of tree sizes for customers to pick from.

Customers are also expected, as required by law, to contact Virginia 811 at least three working days prior to planting their tree to ensure the location of buried utility lines on their property marked by a professional in order to prevent potential damages and hazardous situations. This service is free.

Once customers pick up their tree, they will also receive a brochure and can access help from the Arbor Day Foundation online or over the phone if they have any questions about the planting process.

“They definitely want to ensure the success of each tree,” Willis said.

Willis said the program falls under the department’s energy efficiency initiatives. But beyond its energy-saving benefits, he said the program is “a lot of fun” for the department to do and has received excellent feedback from those who have previously participated, with some even planting multiple trees over the course of multiple years.

“People come to us when we are at the events there to say, ‘This tree is just great,'” Willis said. “‘It’s doing really well,’ and they’re like ‘We got room for more and that’s why we wanted to sign up again.'”

For those who may not be able to plant a tree, Willis encourages city residents to spread the word about the program to others. And while the focus of the program is on saving energy for individual homes, more trees would bring plenty of additional benefit for communities in Charlottesville as a whole.

“It does provide cleaner air,” Willis said. “It absorbs run-off from rain, and and just generally helps beautify the city.”