Community Shade

Add clean air, cooler temperatures, and beauty to your community

Applications are currently closed for Spring 2025 events; please check back in February for applications for the Fall 2025 planting season.

SMUD logo

This program is made possible by SMUD. Over 600,000 trees have been planted since our partnership began 30+ years ago!

Frequently asked questions

Free trees available through this program

Availability may vary

Quercus douglasii - blue oak acorn and leaves

Blue oak

Quercus douglasii

A gigantic centurian camphor tree sprawls over midtown Sacramento's former Java City, now Paesano's, in a small planter strip between the sidewalk and street. This aromatic evergreen was iconic in the City of Trees, but it was removed and its wood recycled after verticillium wilt killed it.

Camphor

Camphora officinarum

Chinese flame tree

Koelreuteria bipinnata

Chinese pistache

Pistacia chinensis ‘Keith Davey’

Zelkova serrata 'Musashino' - Columnar zelkova

Columnar zelkova

Zelkova serrata ‘Musashino’

A cork oak gracefully growing in a very dry urban planter strip

Cork oak

Quercus suber

A large white flower of a Little Gem magnolia opens all the way to reveal light yellow stamens in the center, with dark evergreen foliage providing a nice contrast

Dwarf Southern magnolia

Magnolia grandiflora

Fern pine leaves are lanceolate and evergreen. Although 'pine' is part of its common name, it is not actually a pine and does not have needles. New growth is bright and almost chartreuse, while older leaves are a darker green color.

Fern pine

Afrocarpus gracilior

Beautiful twisting branches and gray-green foliage adorn a multitrunked fruitless Wilson olive growing in a front yard

Fruitless olive

Olea europaea

Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' fall color

Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba ‘Autumn Gold’

Koelreuteria paniculata - Goldenrain tree flowers

Goldenrain tree

Koelreuteria paniculata

An incense cedar grows in front of a house; it is a tall evergreen conifer that somewhat resembles the shape of a redwood

Incense cedar

Calocedrus decurrens

An interior live oak growing near a roadside

Interior live oak

Quercus wislizeni

Japanese snowbell

Styrax japonicus

London plane

Platanus × acerifolia

Persian ironwood

Parrotia persica ‘Vanessa’

Pineapple guava

Feijoa sellowiana

Pomegranate

Punica granatum ‘Wonderful’

Red maple

Acer rubrum

Sawleaf zelkova

Zelkova serrata

Shantung maple

Acer truncatum

Two shiny xylosmas flank a walkway, providing evergreen interest and a touch of whimsy with their twisted trunks

Shiny xylosma

Xylosma congestum

Acacia stenophylla - Shoestring acacia

Shoestring acacia

Acacia stenophylla

Bright orange fall leaves of the Shumard oak

Shumard oak

Quercus shumardii

Strawberry tree

Arbutus ‘Marina’

Clusters of creamy yellow bay laurel flowers bloom along twigs at the base of dark green leaves commonly used in cooking

Sweet bay laurel

Laurus nobilis

A front yard trident maple invites visitors with intriguing bark patterns and leaves shaped like duck feet

Trident maple

Acer buergerianum

Brilliant red fall color and a tall pyramidal shape are a couple reasons people love the tupelo

Tupelo

Nyssa sylvatica

Quercus lobata - valley oak

Valley oak

Quercus lobata

Bright red berries on the Washington hawthorn stand out among chartreuse leaves, a favorite for birds

Washington hawthorn

Crataegus phaenopyrum

Elongated willow-like leaves and an upright form define the willow oak

Willow oak

Quercus phellos