Gainesville to give away 250 trees

Choose from Magnolia, Cedar and Poplar trees and more at Morningside Nature Center from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday.

The City of Gainesville will give away 250 trees of 15 different species in celebration of Arbor Day. Gainesville’s Urban Forestry Division will hold planting demonstrations and hand out cards detailing best practices, like thinking through where to plant the tree and how much to water.

The City wants zero leftover trees and will give them away accordingly. Visitors can stay in their vehicles or walk through the different trees to pick their own.

Most of the trees will come in 3 gallon buckets and a few varieties will be in a 1 gallon size.

The city got the trees from local nurseries like Chiappini Farm Native Nursery, Chestnut Hill Nursery and Half Moon Growers.

The Urban Forestry Division has held tree giveaways before, but the COVID-19 threw off the schedule. You can visit its web page for more information on Gainesville’s tree management, Fact Sheets and upcoming events.

The City of Gainesville has been a Tree City USA since 1983 and a World Tree City in 2020. To receive the designations, the City files each year, giving a report that shows what resources it invests in trees and how it works to preserve, protect and rebuild its urban tree canopy.

For more information about the different species of trees, visit the UF/IFAS website.

Gainesville will give away the following trees:

• 20 x Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)
• 20 x Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
• 20 x Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
• 10 x Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
• 20 x Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
• 20 x Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
• 20 x Flatwoods Plum (Prunus umbellata)
• 20 x Loblolly Bay (Gordonia lasianthus)
• 20 x Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)
• 10 x Eastern Redbud (Cercis Canadensis)
• 20 x Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra)
• 10 x Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
• 20 x Snowbells (Styrax americanus)
• 10 x Rusty Blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum)
• 10 x Ashe Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla v. asheii)