Fall Tree Program

Providing Free Trees to Newporters to support a vibrant urban forest.

Our Fall Tree Program offers FREE trees to Newport residents. Beautify your home and join us in planting for the future by adding a new generation to Newport’s urban forest.

APPLICATIONS OPEN!!

How to Request a Tree:

SCROLL DOWN TO BROWSE THE LIST OF AVAILABLE TREES (PHOTOS BELOW)
Submit your application (button below)
NTC will review all applications on a rolling basis. Priority will be given to residents of Newport’s Health Equity Zone and first-time recipients

Apply Here

Receiving Your Tree

NTC is planning delivery for all trees during the final week of October and first week of November. Please do not submit an application if you are unable to receive or plant the tree after the delivery date.
NTC is proud to partner with TJ Brown to accomplish our planting goals & to provide free planting services for a limited number of applicants. Please indicate on your application if you are able to plant the tree yourself or need assistance.
Please note: This program does not include the removal of an existing tree(s) to make space for the new tree.

Planting Your Tree

We’ve put together some key tips in our NTC Planting Guide & in the video below.

How To Plant Your New Tree

AVAILABLE TREES
2025

American Sweetgum
(Liquidambar styraciflua)

Mature Size: 50’H x 40’W
Type: Shade tree, Native

An easy to grow eastern US native tree with outstanding foliage and fall color. Grows quickly, casting a deep shade, and develops an ovate to broad rounded habit. Prefers loamy soils and full sun, but needs adqequate moisture to get established. Our seed source has proven cold hardiness.

Female Eastern Red Cedar
(Juniperus virginiana)

Mature Size: 30’H x 25’W
Type: Evergreen conifer, Native

A wonderful native evergreen, eastern red cedar is a durable and attractive conifer for use in the garden, as a specimen or a screen. Will tolerate intense heat and drought, and grows happily in less than ideal soils. Site in full sun; will tolerate exposed locations.

Pink Kentucky Yellowwood
(Cladrastis kentuckea ‘Perkins Pink’)

Mature Size: 35’H x 30’W
Type: Flowering tree, Native

Unique for its fragrant pink flowers that bloom in late May, 'Perkin's Pink' checks a lot of garden boxes. Pleasant yellow fall color, a graceful relaxed habit, and smooth gray bark are features that give this tree year round interest. Works well as a specimen in the front lawn, or shading a seating area in the backyard. Prefers well drained, acidic or alkaline soils, with adequate sun for best flowering.

Katsura Tree
(Cercidiphyllum japonicum)

Mature Size: 40’H x 30’W
Type: Shade tree, Specimen

An exceptionally graceful medium-sized tree with loads of ornamental appeal. Katsura produces an upright rounded shaped, tan plated bark, attractive plum purple emerging foliage in the spring, and glorious fall color that smells like cotton candy. Likes full sun and moist, well-drained soils.

Tschonoski Crabapple

(Malus tschonoskii)

Mature Size: 30’H x 15’W

Type: Flowering tree

This species has performed really well in Newport, and isn't very common in nurseries, so we're proud to offer it this fall. White flowers bloom in early May, but the tree is at its showiest in the fall, when it produces longlasting red to orange fall color. Posesses an upright habit, shows excellent disease resistance, and has proven to be urban tough.

SnowDance™ Japanese Tree Lilac
(Syringa reticulata ‘Bailnce’)

Mature Size: 20'H x 20'W
Type: Flowering tree

A compact flowering tree that produces quite a show in early June, with an abundance of ivory white flowers that stand out against dark green foliage. SnowDance™ has good resistance to mildew and leaf necrosis. Perfectly cold hardy, this tree is best sited in full sun, adaptable to differing soil types.

Pitch Pine

(Pinus rigida)

Mature Size: 40'H x 30'W
Type: Evergreen conifer, Native

An abundant native in Rhode Island, Pitch pine is an underrated and underutlized evergreen. Thrives in dry, sunny sites, growing in sandy and rocky soils. Pitch pine often takes on a very sculptural form in the landscape, with curving branches, dark green needles, and furrowed bark. Cones may persist on the tree for a couple years and add interest.

Sweetbay Magnolia
(Magnolia virginiana)

Mature Size: 25'H x 15'W
Type: Flowering tree, Native

Superb small magnolia with lemon scented flowers in June, and lustrous green foliage sporting silver undersides. Tolerates moist soils, full sun, and some partial shade.

Legacy® Sugar Maple
(Acer saccharum ‘Legacy’)

Mature Size: 45'H x 45'W
Type: Shade tree, Native

Becoming popular over the last 20 years, 'Legacy' is a tree of the future. Selected from seed sourced from an disjunct population of sugar maples in Oklahoma, 'Legacy' has inherent heat and drought tolerance. Growth is fast and vigorous, and fall color is a warm orange in early November. More adaptable to sandy soils, but grows excellently in Newports acidic silty loam.

Eastern Redbud
(Cercis canadensis)

Mature Size: 20'H x 20'W
Type: Flowering Tree, Native

A flowering tree that has a place in a every garden, at least in theory. Edible purple-pink flowers hug the naked stems in early May, followed by the emergence of large heart shaped leaves. Under the right conditions, a buttery yellow fall color is produced. Best grown in full sun and loamy, well-drained soils.

Scarlet Fire® Kousa Dogwood
(Cornus kousa ‘Rutpink’)