Get two free trees to plant in your garden to cut carbon and help wildlife thrive.
The Tree-mendous Giveaway gives you the chance to get up to two free trees to plant in your garden this autumn to help encourage our native plants and wildlife and capture carbon too.
This is a joint initiative between the council and The Hampshire Forest Partnership that aims to see new trees spring up in more than 1,800 gardens across the borough.
Applications for free trees are open until Sunday 10 November or when stocks run out, whichever is sooner. They will be available for booked collections on Saturday 30 November 2024 at the council’s depot on Wade Road in Basingstoke.
The trees are young, around 20cm to 40cm tall, and you can choose two of the same or two different varieties to plant in your garden. Information will be provided with the trees when they are collected, including where in the garden they should be planted and how they should be cared for.
Apply for your free trees
When you apply for your free trees, you'll be asked to give your consent to let us share your address and the trees you've chosen with Hampshire County Council. No other information (like your name or email) will be shared.
This is so the Hampshire Forest Partnership can add your trees to its tree tracker so it can monitor its progress to see one million new trees planted across the county.
Things to consider when choosing and planting your free trees
Before you choose your tree, have a think about what would best suit your garden. There are a wide variety of trees available that will grow to different heights and sizes. Some trees will produce fruit and others have thorns.
Once you’ve chosen your tree, it’s also worth carefully thinking about where to plant it. You’ll likely want to avoid having it over the top of your drains, by the fence or too near your home. You may also want to consider the shade that will be cast by the tree as it grows and, if it produces any fruit, where that will drop.
There’s more information about the 11 available varieties below.
If you are in a rented property, you should ask for permission from your landlord before planting trees.
Fully grows in around 10 to 20 years
Fully grown height is around 3 to 5 metres
Fully grown width is around 2 to 4 metres
Plant it in acidic, alkaline and wet soil types. It is fine in exposed windy areas
Blossoms with white flowers and red fruits after flowering in late spring
Good for bees and birds
This is a small shrub-like tree that provides seasonal interest for much of the year with large white flowers, bright red fruit and an autumn display. Distinctive flat clusters of creamy white flowers surrounded by larger sterile flowers appear late spring to early summer – these are an important food source for insects like bees and hoverflies.
In autumn, bunches of translucent round red berries appear, which are an important source of food for garden birds. Maple-like lobed green leaves turn orange, pink and red in the autumn before falling.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about the Guelder Rose (viburnum opulus)
Fully grows in around 10 to 20 years
Fully grown height is around 2.5 to 4 metres
Fully grown width is around 2 to 4 metres
Plant it in most, well-drained soils like clay, chalky, loam or sandy soil
Blossoms with creamy white flowers in late spring, followed by oval to rounded red fruits which ripen to black white flowers and red fruits after flowering in late spring
Good for birds, moths butterflies and bugs
A small, deciduous shrub up to about 4 metres in height, with finely toothed, broadly oval grey-green leaves up to 12cm long. Blossoms with clusters of small tubular white flowers in late spring, followed by round red fruits which ripen to black.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about the Wayfaring Tree (viburnum lantana)
Fully grows in around 20 to 50 years
Fully grown height is around 2.5 to 4 metres
Fully grown width is around 2 to 4 metres
Plant it in any soil type
Blossoms with small white flowers in early spring, followed by black fruits
Good for birds, moths, butterflies and bugs
This tree is thorny!
A small thorny deciduous tree with dark green, oval leaves and small white flowers in early spring, followed by oval black fruits measuring about 1.5cm across. Blackthorns form dense thickets, which can be excellent sites for nesting birds.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about the Blackthorn (prunus spinosa)
Fully grows in around 5 to 10 years
Fully grown height is around 4 to 8 metres
Fully grown width is around 4 to 8 metres
Plant it in soils that are moist, well-drained and either alkaline or neutral (avoid acidic soils), so ideally chalk, loam or sandy soils
Blossoms with creamy yellow catkins in the early spring, followed by edible large nuts in the autumn
Good for birds, moths and butterflies
Hazel was historically one of our most useful trees as it was grown for its tasty hazelnuts and bendy stems, which have many uses including thatching and crafting furniture.
Hazel can live for up to 80 years or much longer if coppiced (that is, regularly cut back to allow new young growth). Hazel is a nature conservation ‘hero’, with hazelnuts that are loved by wildlife and people alike, and leaves that are eaten by butterfly and moth caterpillars. Hazel catkins resemble lambs’ tails as they have tiny red flowers that are wind pollinated, though despite their size they can provide pollen for bees. Its green leaves have soft downy hairs on the underside, and they turn golden before falling in the autumn.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about the Hazel (corylus avellana)
Fully grows in around 10 to 20 years
Fully grown height is around 4 to 8 metres
Fully grown width is around 2 to 4 metres
Plant it in soils that are moist, well-drained and wet, so ideally chalk, clay, loam or sandy soils
Blossoms with a feather-like arrangement of leaves that turn pale yellow in autumn, followed by flat sprays of fragrant cream flowers in early summer and then small black berries in the autumn
Good for birds, bees and moths
Favoured by foragers, the elder trees produces both elderflowers and elderberries that are used to make wines, cordials, tonics and preserves.
Clusters of creamy white and highly scented flowers appear in late spring, providing food for bees and other pollinating insects. Small round dark purple fruit then form from the pollinated flowers, providing food for birds and several different mammals.
Its green leaves, which are composed of five to seven-paired tooth edged leaflets, are eaten by the caterpillars of several moths. Its leaves turn red in autumn, creating a fabulous display before they fall.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about elder (sambucus nigra)
Fully grows in around 20 to 50 years
Fully grown height is around 4 to 8 metres
Fully grown width is around 4 to 8 metres
Plant it in any soil. They tolerate expose areas and urban pollution well too
Blossoms with white to pink flowers in late spring, followed by red fruit in early autumn.
Good for birds, bees, moths and butterflies
This tree is thorny!
An ideal tree for most conditions, the hawthorn is tough enough to stand exposed sites and city pollution, though it doesn’t like waterlogged sites.
In late spring it will give a display of scented pale pink flowers that provide food for bees when there can be little else flowering. Small red fruit called “haws” appear in the late summer, these are eaten by birds and small mammals. Hawthorns make fantastic nesting shelters for many bird species as they have dense thorny branches. Their leaves are eaten by moth and butterfly caterpillars; those that survive and are not eaten turn yellow and fall off the tree in the autumn.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about hawthorn (crataegus laevigata)
Fully grows in around 20 to 50 years
Fully grown height is around 8 to 12 metres
Fully grown width is around 4 to 8 metres
Plant it in most but well-drained soils, so chalk, clay, loam or sand
Blossoms with pink-tinged white flowers in late spring, which are then replaced by crab apples
Good for birds, bees, butterflies and moths
Found in the same family as roses and an ancestor of the modern cultivated apple, the crab apple is one of the host trees to parasitic mistletoe and older trees will often be found covered in lichens.
In spring, sweetly scented white-pink flowers appear which are an important food for bees and other insects. Crab apples are small and round, turning from green to yellow and red when ripe, a favourite food of garden birds and mammals but can also be turned into jellies and sauces. The tree’s green leaves are a source of food for the caterpillars of many moths, and they turn yellow and red in the autumn before falling.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about crab apple trees (malus sylvestris)
Fully grows in around 20 to 50 years
Fully grown height is over 12 metres
Fully grown width is around 4 to 8 metres
Plant it in most but well-drained soils, so chalk, clay, loam or sand
Blossoms with small green flowers in spring, followed by red winged seeds
Good for birds, bees and moths
Well known for its stunning autumn displays and for the maple syrup it can produce, maple trees also produce maple wood, which is some of the hardest timber and can be used to create furniture and musical instruments.
Small yellow-green clusters of flowers appear in spring which provide food for bees and birds. Its flat winged fibrous fruits, called samaras, use the wind to spread and are eaten by small mammals. Small, dark green and shiny lobed leaves fade to a rich golden yellow and orange in the autumn before falling. These are an important food for many moth species.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about field maples (acer campestre)
Fully grows in around 20 to 50 years
Fully grown height is over 12 metres
Fully grown width is around 4 to 8 metres
Plant it in most but well-drained soils, so chalk, clay, loam or sand
Blossoms with white flowers in late spring, followed by s mall, bitter black fruits
Good for birds, moths, bugs and butterflies
The bird cherry is a medium to large deciduous tree with toothed, oval leaves that turn yellow in autumn. Pendant racemes of fragrant white flowers about 1cm wide bloom in late spring, followed by small black fruits.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about bird cherry (prunus padus).
Fully grows in around 20 to 50 years
Fully grown height is over 12 metres
Fully grown width is around 4 to 8 metres
Plant it in well-drained and acidic or neutral soils, so ideally loam or sand
Blossoms with white flowers in late spring, followed by orange-red berries in early autumn
Good for birds, bees, butterflies and moths
Also known as Mountain-ash, the rowan is in the same family as roses (Rosaceae). Thought to ward off witches, its wood was used to create diving tools to find water sources.
Clusters of creamy white flowers appear in late spring providing food for bees and other pollinating insects. Clusters of small round orange-to-red fruits form from pollinated flowers, with these being a favourite of birds, mammals and caterpillars. Dark green leaves are composed of five to eight pairs of small-tooth edged leaflets, these are eaten by the caterpillars of several moths. The leaves turn yellow and red in autumn and often stay on the tree into November.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about rowan (sorbus aucuparia)
Fully grows in around 10 to 20 years
Fully grown height is around 2 to 4 metres
Fully grown width is around 2 to 4 metres
Plant it in well-drained and moist soils like chalk, clay, loam or sand
Blossoms with greenish-white flowers followed by red fruits and orange seeds
Good for birds, bugs, butterflies and moths
A vigorous and broad deciduous tree with narrow oval leaves that turn pink or red in autumn. Blossoms with small greenish-white flowers that are then followed by 4-lobed red fruits, which split to reveal orange seeds.
For more information, go to the Royal Horticultural Society’s webpage about spindle (euonymus europaeus)