Free Nut and Fruit Trees
Opening for registrations from July
Urban trees are great!
They improve air quality, capture harmful carbon, create flood resilience, create homes and food for wildlife and generally make our neighbourhoods nicer places to be. Urban nut and fruit trees also have the potential to provide some tasty food!
So, it is with good reason that a minimum level of urban tree canopy of 20% is recommended by tree experts and has been adopted as a target by Stirling Council.
Unfortunately, not all urban areas of Stirling enjoy the same level of tree benefits. Some areas have extremely low levels of urban tree canopy (Bannockburn 3%, Raploch 2%), whilst other areas have high levels (King’s Park 20%, Bridge of Allan 32%).
TreeLink Stirling’s Free Nut and Fruit Tree project aims to see trees planted in urban areas with low tree canopy by providing fruit or nut trees for residents to plant in their gardens. Over the winter of 24/25 TreeLink’s volunteers worked hard to provide 200 fruit or nut trees to residents in Raploch and Bannockburn. The project proved to be very popular.
Read on for more information on our 24/25 project delivery.
We are pleased to announce:
The Free Nut & Fruit Tree project continues in 25/26 with 100 trees available for residents in
BANNOCKBURN, HILLPARK, RAPLOCH & CORNTON
with delivery planned from January 2026.
We offer a choice of apple, pear, plum, hazelnut or walnut trees to residents who:
· Have space in their garden for a nut or fruit tree
· Live within the community council areas of Bannockburn, Hillpark, Raploch or Cornton.
Funded by:
How to claim your free tree
Applications open in July
What trees are available?
You can choose between an apple, pear, plum, hazel or walnut tree.
Am I guaranteed to get the tree I want?
Trees will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Depending on demand you may not get the type of tree you choose, but we'll try our hardest to give you your first choice.
How will I get my tree?
Trees will be distributed from January to March. This is when they are dormant and happy to be moved.
Will be in touch again towards the end of the year with delivery and planting options.
Can I get help to plant my tree?
TreeLink Stirling volunteers will help to plant your tree if you need some help. We'll ask you if you need help when we contact you to arrange delivery of your tree.
Recipient Survey Responses
"It’s an exciting project for the family and our kids are interested in its growth. Walnut trees live for a long time and we like the thought that I could be an ancient, old tree one day."
"It makes me happy watching my tree growing leaf’s and it brings me joy when sitting In my garden thanks to team"
"I absolutely adore my tree, watching it going from sleeping when it arrived to being in full of life has been amazing!! I can’t believe how quickly it’s grown."
"We are really enjoying the tree as our autistic son loves apples so this tree is for him to watch grow into a lovely apple tree just for him."
"There is no way I could afford to buy trees so this one was a lovely gift."
"There are lots of lovely green leaves and also blossom on the tree as our garden has lots of bees 🐝. Can't wait to see if we will receive some fruit this year."
"The fact it was free, and came with everything I needed was just amazing, and I feel very grateful to you for supplying it. Thank you "
"A tree isn’t something I would’ve been able to afford myself - so it brings me happiness knowing there’s more diversity and fun stuff to explore for my child :)"
"The people who delivered my tree were very informative and I enjoyed checking the tree every day. It helps my mental health care."
"Such a lovely friendly group of people who took the time to share their expertise about trees suitable for family gardens."
"Excellent service and friendly people."
"I think it is wonderful, once I had my tree I was spreading the word."
Where did our trees go?
Raploch
Bannockburn
These maps show where our nut and fruit trees have been planted in resident’s gardens. It’s great to see that our project has resulted in lots of new trees in area of low urban tree canopy.
If you’d like more information on this project, please download our project summary document here.