Free Garden Trees in Edinburgh

Free Trees is a scheme which allows Edinburgh residents to pick up a free tree which they can then plant in their garden. The scheme is part of the Million Tree City initiative which aims to have a million trees in Edinburgh by 2030. The Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust have partnered with City of Edinburgh Council and The Woodland Trust in order to deliver the free tree giveaway.

The Free Trees scheme initially involved distributing 1,000 trees from February to March 2023. We then distributed a further 9,000 trees  from November 2023 to March 2024 through collection events across the city. Edinburgh residents were able to collect their free tree along with guidance on how to plant and look after it.

All trees were native to Scotland including wild cherry, bird cherry, rowan, hazel, silver birch, downy birch and alder.

Thank you to everyone who has planted a tree in their garden! Please do get in touch with us at treetime@elgt.org.uk with any updates on your trees and photos. 

Residents are encouraged to record where the trees are being planted on Treezilla.

For information on how to plant and care for your new tree, click here!

The scheme was launched by Cllr Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener at the Inch Nursery and promoted by the Edinburgh Evening News in February 2023. See a video here to find out more.

Cllr Val Walker launching the Free Tree initiative at Inch Nursery in February 2023.

Our team giving away trees at St Johns RC Primary School in November 2023.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in photos of the trees they have planted!