Salt River Project's (SRP) popular Shade Tree Program returns this summer with three virtual workshops in July and August. After completing one of the online classes, SRP customers in Queen Creek, San Tan Valley and others in the Southeast Valley can receive up to two free shade trees that, once fully grown, will help cool their homes and reduce energy costs during the summer months.
Before receiving their free trees, customers must attend an online workshop to learn how to plant and care for the trees. Customers can then select up to two, 2-6-foot-tall tree saplings to be picked up at a later time. Available varieties this year include Palo Verde, Native Mesquite, Thornless Mesquite, Willow Acacia, Desert Willow and Lilac Chaste.
Registration is now open for the next series of virtual workshops:
- Saturday, July 13, from 10 to 11:15 a.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 1, noon to 1:15 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 24, 10 to 11:15 a.m.
“SRP is proud to offer its customers another great way to save on their energy bills while also increasing tree cover and helping local ecosystems,” said Lori Gonzales, SRP senior product manager. “In coordination with our partners at Trees Matter, SRP hands out thousands of free trees through the Shade Tree Program every year.”
To be eligible for the program, attendees must:
- Be a current residential SRP electric customer.
- Attend the workshop.
- Have the legal right to plant trees on their property.
- Renters need to get verbal permission from their landlord.
- Plant trees on the south, west or east sides of their home.
- Plant trees approximately 15 to 20 feet from exposed exterior walls and windows.
- Be able to care for the tree, as needed.
- Have not previously received trees for their property from the SRP Shade Tree Program.
To learn more about the program and to sign up for a free workshop, visit srpnet.com/shadetrees.
Before planting a tree, residents are instructed to call Arizona 811 to find out where existing underground lines are located. One call to this free service notifies the appropriate local utilities, which send technicians to the requested site to mark the approximate location of existing underground lines.
