Register Your Tree
About the Program | Species of Trees Available | Tree Care | Tree Request Form | I Have Saplings!
Why Give Away Trees?
Arlington’s tree canopy is shrinking fast as our largest trees fall victim to age, redevelopment, poor pruning practices around power lines and prolonged periods of drought and record high flash rainfalls. Many seek to replant, but the instinct to plant a larger tree often leads to disappointing results, since larger nursery trees need extensive root trimming to be portable enough to sell.
Smaller trees, ones whose root balls are no bigger than a one- to five-gallon pot, are easier to plant, easier to maintain to the point where they have stabilized in their new homes, and, since they do not suffer from the shock of root pruning, they will thrive and grow faster, easily compensating for their small initial size within a few years.
About the Program
Small Trees Make Big Canopies is a new EMG program, initiated in the spring of 2020 by interns Alicia Martini and Pam Quanrud, to help expand the tree canopy in Arlington. “Free Trees” seeks to give away hundreds of small (in size, as in saplings) native trees to help restore the region’s tree canopy. The program also seeks to educate the public about our native trees, how to plant and care for them, and how the trees benefit us, our neighbors, and the wider environment. Each tree in the giveaway has its own information card (available in English and Spanish) that covers tree siting and planting, tree care, growth pattern and expected size when fully mature.
Saplings in the program have been donated by your neighbors – including many Master Gardeners! If you have saplings (anywhere from six inches to three feet) you want to donate, fill out an I Have Saplings! Form and we can work with you to harvest your crop of young trees.
If you would like a Free Tree, just fill out a Tree Request Form and we will be in touch with you, or attend a scheduled Free Tree event. The first giveaways began on Earth Day 2020, and more than 60 small tree have already been placed in their new homes. Tree recipients can sign up for watering reminders by email or text, to help ensure that the trees survive their critical first years.
Tree Giveaway Dates
Due to Corona-19, we have had to cancel large public giveaways. These Free Trees are still available, however. Please submit a Tree Request Form!
Future Dates – once local and state guidelines change, we will make trees available at public events.
Species of Trees Available
The different species of trees available are listed below. All species are native to Virginia.
Tree Education Cards – Spanish
- American beech – Tree Card – Fagus grandifolia
- Black locust – Robinia pseudoacacia
- Paw paw – Tree Card – Asimina triloba
- Red maple – Tree Card – Acer rubrum
- Red oak – Quercus rubra
- Redbud – Tree Card – Cercis canadensis
- River birch – Tree Card – Betula Nigra
- Silver maple – Tree Card – Acer saccharinum
- Sugar maple – Tree Card – Acer saccharum
- Sweet gum – Tree Card – Liquidambar styraciflua
- Tulip – Tree Card – Liriodendron tulipifera
- White oak – Tree Card – Quercus alba
- Willow oak – Tree Card – Quercus phellos
Tree Care
Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria
Rules to Follow:
- New trees should receive 1″ of water a week
- If deer are nearby, consider protecting with a deer guard
- Avoid volcano mulching