Funding is awarded from the Tree for Every Delawarean Initiative or TEDI to plant more trees next spring.
Ten projects receive a combined $234,000 to plant more than 4,600 trees through this partnership between DNREC and the Department of Agriculture’s Delaware Forest Service.
This brings the total to more than 250,000 trees planted through the initiative. The goal is to hit 1 million trees planted by 2030, so the state is more than quarter of the way to its goal.
Some of the projects awarded funding include the Cities of Lewes, New Castle, and Wilmington as well as the Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin and Delaware Botanic Gardens.
Friends of Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Friends of Bellevue State Park, Trap Pond Partners for Trap Pond State Park, the Friends of White Clay Creek State Park in Newark, and Zoe Ministries were also among those receiving grants.
TEDI sponsored eight tree giveaway projects in the fall which provided about 3,300 trees across the state to help make sure trees are also getting in the hands of citizens.
Beth Krumrine is principal planner for DNREC’s Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy. She says residents are also being targeted for planting trees.
"We want to also make sure that trees are getting in the hands of citizens so that they could plant trees in their yards that will help with wildlife, air quality, and again climate benefits," said Krumrine.
If you do plant a tree, you’re asked to add it to the tracker at de.gov/tedi.
Krumrine says if you help with the initiative, realize it's an ongoing commitment.
"The most important thing that we can stress is maintenance and ensuring that there are no invasive species crowding out the trees, to make sure to prune properly, watering is certainly most important in the first six months to year, especially during the summer months, and in Delaware, here we recommend planting in the fall. Fall is the best time to plant," said Krumrine.
Krumrine notes that next year the expectation is for even more tree giveaways.
