Dean Bailey wants to see 40 saplings planted in the Twin Cities this summer – pears, honey locusts, ginkos, lilacs, oaks. The only thing up in the air: where to put them.

That’s where homeowners come in.

Bailey, chair of the Lewiston Auburn Community Forest Board, secured a grant this winter for the board’s first major project. For $100 and the promise to water it, the board will give homeowners a 2.5-inch-round tree priced at $200. Public works employees will dig the hole, pour mulch and add support stakes.

It’s part of the board’s efforts to maintain and grow an urban, community forest.

“You’re in a forest whether you realize it or not, whether there are buildings in it” or not, said Bailey.

The $7,000 grant from Project Canopy, a part of the Maine Forest Service and Pine Tree State Arboretum, will fund at least 20 trees in each city.

A Wednesday deadline for the cost-sharing program has been pushed ahead on a first-come, first-served basis, he said. About 14 homeowners, mostly in Auburn, have signed up so far.

Applications are available at both city halls, libraries and public works departments.

Steve Murch, the Lewiston city arborist, said saplings will be purchased at the beginning of May. He’s trying to secure a wide variety.

As people apply, arborists from either city will visit the homeowner, examine the space they want to plant and recommend certain types.

Trees need to be planted in the front yard, in view of the city right-of-way, to improve the streetscape.

Bailey said they’ll be encouraging people not to pick Norway maples, a variety planted heavily in the Twin Cities after Dutch elm diseased wiped out the areas’ large American elms in the 1950s.

“Maples came, they grew quickly, they grew rapidly, so everyone planted maples,” he said.

An inventory of 4,000 trees in Lewiston last year found 63 percent were maple, most Norway maple.

Problems could arise if a disease suddenly struck that tree, Bailey said.

The L-A Community Forest Board was founded three years ago. Mike DeBonis, director of Project Canopy, said it’s the first Maine tree board he’s aware of that has set out to benefit two communities.

With the remainder of its grant money, Bailey said board members will visit six sites in the Twin Cities with designated “Reading Trees” to present plaques during Maine Arbor Week May 18 to 24. (The board designated the trees last year but didn’t have money then for plaques.) The program asks libraries and schools to designate official reading trees and encourage people to read or conduct classes beneath them.

It’s also taking nominations for new reading trees, or requests from schools who would like a reading tree planted.

Bailey is looking for three more members to complement its board. It’s a chance to get involved with the environment and economic development, he said. “The more we can make these cities more livable, the more likely we are to attract business and industry here.”

He has a goal of the board planting 40 to 100 trees a year in the two cities.