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.

Application deadline October 21, 2026

How to Request a Tree:

  1. SCROLL DOWN TO BROWSE THE LIST OF AVAILABLE TREES (PHOTOS BELOW)

  2. Submit your application (button below)

  3. 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.

  • All trees received must be planted at the residential or commercial location indicated in your application.

Planting Your Tree

How To Plant Your New Tree

Available Trees
2026

American Sweetgum
(Liquidambar styraciflua)


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

A beautiful native known for its striking, long lasting autumn color. Our trees are seed grown from a reliably hardy source, and are set up to thrive in Newport. Growth is fast, and trees benefit from supplemental irrigation during the summer. A mature tree has a graceful spreading habit, and casts a nice cooling shade in the summer time. Fall color is usually red and orange, sometimes yellow, and often combinations of the three. An adaptable species, but best in acidic, loamy soil and with plenty of sunlight.

Eastern Red Cedar
(Juniperus virginiana)


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

A great native evergreen perfectly suited for Newport's coastal climate and soil profile. Will develop a densely pyrimidal habit with dark green foliage in the summer, bronzing somewhat in the winter months. Our trees are male, so no juniper "berries" will be produced. Loves lots of sun and sharply draining soil. Works great as a specimen or a screening plant.

Princton Sentry® Ginkgo
(Ginkgo biloba ‘PNI 2720’)

Mature Size: 50’H x 20’W
Type: Shade, Specimen

A time-honored male selection of the beloved living fossil, the ginkgo tree. The fan shaped leaves are a joy to all who witness them. The erect branches of Princeton Sentry® form a distinct V-shaped habit, and allow for good clearance for whatever activites are going on underneath. Autumn color is the classic golden yellow, and being a male clone, no fruits are produced. Loves moist loamy soils and plenty of sunshine.

Katsura Tree
(Cercidiphyllum japonicum)


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

A medium sized tree that carries a full sized personality, beautiful 365 days of the year. Develops an oval habit with graceful, horizontal branching, sporting plated, silver-gray bark. The heart-shaped foliage is treasured; plum purple when emerging in the spring, dark green through the summer, and yellow to red-orange in the fall. Senescing foliage producing a strong sugary odor. Fertile, moisture-retaining soil is necessary for best culture.

Akebono Flowering Cherry (Prunus xyedoensis ‘Akebon0’)

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

Over nearly the last centruy and a half,  'Akebono' has proven itself as an outstanding flowering tree. An abundance of flowers  appear in mid-April, with the soft pink blooms opening before the foliage emerges. Fruit is scarcely produced. Younger branches have smooth grey bark etched with horizontal lenticel bands, while older trunks become crack and fissured with age. Fall color is often overlooked, and is usually a delightful orange. Requires at least 6 hours of sun, good air flow, and loamy, well-drained soils. 

Wildfire Tupelo
(Nyssa sylvatica ‘Wildfire’)


Mature Size: 50'H x 30'W
Type: Shade, Native


A popular and remarkably beautiful cultivar of a great native tree. The extending shoots and leaves produce a beautiful red-orange color in the spring and early summer, providing bright colors in landscape when everything else is green. An adaptable species that grows excellently in Newport, tolerant of wet soils as well as sharply draining sites.

Pitch Pine

(Pinus rigida)


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

Rhode Island's second most abundant native pine species after white pine (Pinus strobus). Produces an artistically designed habit , with the branching framework sporting rough, scaly, fire resistant bark. Long, rich green needles are held is groupings of 3, and cones mature in 1 growing season. Loves dryer soils and sunny locations; tolerates seaside conditions.

Starlight® Dogwood
(Cornus xelwinortonii ‘KN4-43’)


Mature Size: 25'H x 15'W
Type: Flowering

A newer hybrid introduction out of Rutgers University's well-known dogwood breeding program. One of the parents of Starlight® is C. nutallii, the pacific dogwood, native from British Columbia to California. Growth is fast and vigorous, developing a nice upright oval habit. Flowers in early to mid May, with large cream-colored bracts. Fall color is a nice burgundy.

River Birch
(Betula nigra)


Mature Size: 50'H x 30'W
Type: Shade tree, Native

A year-round stunner with its exfoliating, multi-colored bark, river birch is often cited as the most adaptable birch species for planting in southern New England. The trees we offer are clones propagated from the ancient and noble individual in Morton Park, planted by the Olmsted firm at the turn of the 20th century, proving its resiliency and propensity to grow in Newport. We grow our trees as single-stemmed specimens.

Eastern Redbud
(Cercis canadensis)


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

Eastern redbud, a proud member of the pea family (Fabaceae), is a glorious flowering tree, brightening up any landcape in which it grows. The species blooms in early May in Newport, with the stems covered in edible pink-purple (rose pink) flowers. Growth is fast in fertile soil, and redbud is commended for its heat and drought tolerance once it gets its roots established. Fall color is golden yellow. Plant in full sun for best flowering and growth.

Choice City Select® Chinkapin Oak
(Quercus muehlenbergii ‘PTimB3S’)


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

Choice City Select®  has been the best performer in our nursery two years in a row! Chinkapin oak is a lesser known species of native oak that is starting to become more popular in the nursery trade. Choice City Select® is a superior form with beautiful, lustrous foliage competely free of foliar disease, and fall color is a beautiful scarlet red. The habit is upright spreading, with arching branches and  furrowed bark. Adaptable and tough, this is a great choice for a shade tree in Newport.

Cornelian Cherry Dogwood
(Cornus mas)

A favorite winter/early spring flowering tree, grown for nearly one thousand years in Europe as a fruit crop.The cheerful yellow flowers appear in the early spring, just when winter seems eternal. The boldly textured bark and multi-stemmed form adds winter interest, and the edible fruit ripen in the late summer.

Mature Size: 25'H x 25'W
Type: Flowering