Maryland Natural Resources Section 5-403

      (a)      If the governing body or the road supervisors of any county of the State, the Department of Transportation, the council of any municipality, or any organization or person applies to the Department to plant, care, or protect any roadside tree, the Department shall evaluate the application and inform the applicant concerning the advisability of the requested planting, care, or protection. If, in the judgment of the Department, the requested planting, care, or protection is advisable, the Department shall prepare and submit to the applicant a plan for the same, including an estimate of the cost.

      (b)      Any plan to plant, care, or protect roadside trees may not become operative until the applicant approves the plan and has guaranteed to the Department the cost of the work. When the applicant approves a plan the Department has prepared, and the applicant has guaranteed payment of the cost in a manner satisfactory to the Department, the Department shall perform, or cause to be performed, the specified planting, care, or protection of roadside trees.

      (c)      The Department, without being requested as provided in subsection (a) or guaranteed as provided in subsection (b), may plant, care for, and protect roadside trees and pay for the work out of any unexpended balance of the amount appropriated for the purposes of this subtitle. However, no tree may be planted under the provisions of this section without the consent and approval of the owner of the land on which planted.