Buena Vista City residents will be able to take home up to three native trees for residential planting this month, thanks to a grant-funded partnership between Boxerwood Education Association and the city of Buena Vista.
Also available without charge will be leaf mulch for these trees and wire cages for deer protection. The community giveaway will take place rain or shine this Saturday, Nov. 15, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Magnolia Square pavilion.
An initiative of the threeyear BV Cool Trees project, the giveaway supports project goals of enhancing the urban tree canopy.
“Trees bring so many benefits,” remarked Ginny Johnson, Boxerwood’s sustainability educator who is managing the give-away. Properly placed and tended, urban trees help keep towns clean, cool, and shady. They add value to private property, promote emotional well-being, provide habitat for songbirds, sequester carbon and more. “Trees help communities thrive,” said Johnson.
Assisting with the giveaway are several Buena Vista teens who participated in the BV Cool Trees internship program this past summer. The teens will be distributing tree-care brochures they created and also assembling the protective tree cages. The trees themselves come from existing stock in three Boxerwood- tended nurseries, including one located at Enderly Heights Elementary School.
According to Johnson, most of the seedlings were first planted into pots by Buena Vistas children, as part of another Boxerwood initiative. “It’s coming full-circle,” said Johnson, “Now the trees are ready for their forever homes.”
Available species for 2025 include dogwood, buttonbush, crabapple, river birch, redbud and red maple.
The trees will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, though citizens also have the option of reserving their trees online at boxerwood. org/trees.
As an additional resource, volunteers with digging tools will be on hand to help property owners plant their trees; this free service is offered only during the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. pick-up window.
Funding for BV Cool Trees and the giveaway comes from the Virginia Department of Forestry/Urban and Community Forest Program, with additional support from the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
