Leesburg commission readies 'Treesburg' giveaways, planting inventory and fall events

Leesburg’s Tree Commission on Oct. 21 finalized much of the logistics for its fall tree giveaway and related outreach programs, including delivery and staging, volunteer assignments, species lists and a short public survey.

Town staff (Melissa) told commissioners the town purchased roughly 135 trees for the fall giveaway and that, counting other sources and donations, the commission expected about 165 total trees available across events this season. Staff said some of the trees ordered are in quantities of 20 or 30 depending on species (examples: sweetbay magnolia 30; witch hazel 20; redbud 30). The commission also discussed an in-person planting demonstration and how to stage a single demonstration hole to illustrate proper planting techniques.

Logistics and marketing details

Staff and commissioners agreed parks staff would receive the delivery (parks office/barn) the morning before the giveaway, offload to a trailer and move trees to the event site the next morning. The commission will set up a canopy with the town logo, signs and printed species fact-sheets (11x17 placards) to display at species clusters. Volunteers will man separate clipboards to capture full street addresses and survey responses from recipients; town communications will issue a press release and social posts around the event.

Counts, timing and staging

Melissa said 135 trees had been ordered for the fall giveaway and that total available trees (including other donations such as a Loudoun United FC donation and previously held inventory) would be about 165. The town’s schedule: truck offload at the parks office (barn) the morning before the event; volunteers and staff to move trees on trailers to the event location; event staging Saturday morning with the canopy, demonstration planting hole, and survey stations. The commission planned the planting demonstration to show digging depth, correct root handling and mulching without planting dozens of demo trees; the demonstration will use one prepared hole and sample root-pruning examples.

Other related programs and funding

Staff reported the town has a clean-water grant project and riparian-planting funding (Melissa referenced approximately $5,000 for native wetland species at Tuscarora Creek/Brandon Park). The commission discussed a tree-bank allocation (transcript reference: $13,000) that must be spent in partnership with a nonprofit; the stipulation requires working with a nonprofit recipient or partner if the commission wants to use the tree-bank funds in FY26. Staff said a separate contract for a town tree inventory (task order) is underway to map town parcels in the spring and complete a right-of-way inventory in a subsequent fiscal year using ground-based LIDAR/vehicle-based capture.

Why it matters

The giveaway and related programs are the commission’s main public-facing outreach and inventory efforts: giveaways put species into private yards and encourage canopy growth, while the inventory and riparian planting support longer-term maintenance and water-quality goals. The commission emphasized documenting recipients (street addresses) so the town can follow up on survival and placement and invite participants to future events.

What the commission asked staff to do

Commissioners asked staff to: provide printed fact sheets and QR codes at the giveaway; ensure volunteers capture full addresses and whether a household is first-time recipient; keep some sample trees for demonstration; coordinate with parks staff for secure overnight storage; and coordinate with the town’s communications lead (Leah) for a press release, social posts and a Lee's Live interview scheduled the day before the event.

Next steps

Staff will confirm final delivery date and staging plan, print species placards with planting instructions, set up survey clipboards per species and finalize volunteer roles for offloading, staging and demonstration. Staff said tree plantings for the large plaza/park riparian project are planned for spring, and that tree-bank funds will be subject to nonprofit partnership rules in FY26.