The city of Fayetteville is inviting residents to help grow the community's urban forest by taking home a free tree or shrub during the annual Celebration of Trees tomorrow, starting at 7 a.m. The city has hosted an annual giveaway for many years, but this time it’s slightly different. Two giveaways will take place simultaneously, one at the Spring Street parking deck and another at the downtown square during the Fayetteville Farmers Market.
Fayetteville’s urban forester, John Scott, joined Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis in the Bruce and Ann Applegate News Studio One to explain why the city is dedicated to hosting tree giveaways for residents.
Scott: It gives people an opportunity to get a free tree and eventually add value to their property, and it’s eventually going to shade their house and help them during the summer. And also, it’s a great way for an individual to contribute to the larger environmental issues that we’re all facing that can feel like too much. But this is a way for individuals actually to contribute to a healthier habitat and ecosystem right directly in their own yard. So that’s a good opportunity for people.
Travis: And so how can people participate? What do they need to know?
Scott: You show up either at the Spring Street parking garage around 7 a.m. if you want the premium — or not premium plants — but if you want your first choice of plant, you’ll need to show up at 7. And then you need to have some sort of bill that has your address on it, a little form of ID showing you’re a resident of Fayetteville. And then somebody will come up and ask you what kind of plants you want, and you’ll let them know. And if you’re in the Spring Street parking garage, they’ll load them up for you, and then you’re on your way.
But we’re also doing something different this year. We have two locations going on simultaneously. We have the Spring Street parking garage like we normally do, and we’re going to go back to the Farmers Market Saturday morning. So at 7 a.m., if you’re at the Farmers Market, you can also get a free tree from us. Then you’ll just come to our booth. We’ll be at the corner of East and Mountain over there by Jammin’ Java. So you can walk up, chat with us, learn about the plants, and then pick out what you would like.
Travis: And then it’s first-come, first-served.
Scott:It’s first-come, first-served.
Travis: What kind of trees or shrubs can people look forward to maybe getting?
Scott: We tend to stick with natives only. This year we have buttonbush, which is an excellent pollinator. We’ll have arrowwood viburnums, some Virginia sweetspire, spicebush. We also will have a beautyberry. We have the native fringe tree, persimmon, which is going to be very popular. Everybody would like some fruit trees. We have the winterberry, which is Ilex opaca. I’m giving you the scientific names because there’s a lot of different plants called winterberry for some reason.
And then Nuttall oak, we have a swamp chestnut oak, which is a beautiful oak. Both of them are really great. We also have the American beech, which I am happy that we do have because it’s not something that people plant enough of. And it’s that large tree you see out in the woods that people carve their names in. I don’t want you doing that. But that’s the tree that we’re talking about, that large tree with that thin bark, but American beech. And we’ll have some bald cypress and sycamores.
Travis: Wow. Lots of really cool plants there. So can you explain how this, you know, the ideas behind it — sort of the “right tree, right place” notion that y’all are trying to put forward?
Scott: Yeah. When you plant a tree, it’s an investment of your time and energy, and you want to make sure you’re not putting it somewhere that it’s not going to be able to reach its maturity. So making sure you put it at the right location where there’s not a conflict with your structure, your house or a shed or a sidewalk or a utility. We don’t want you to, you know, have a conflict with a water or sewer. So before you dig and you plant, you should call 811. Have them mark your property so you know where all your utilities are.
And you also don’t want to cut your fiber optic or hit a gas main, or any of that terrible nightmare stuff could happen to you. So making sure that you call before you dig is a big deal. And then making sure you plant it at the right location so it can reach maturity and it doesn’t have to be taken out because it’s causing some sort of problem with the sidewalk or some other type of infrastructure.
Travis: Yeah. And then once you get it planted in that right place, what are some maintenance tips? You know, obviously each tree or shrub will have a different care routine, but, you know, are there any general tips you might give someone who’s planted a tree on their property?
Scott: I think making sure that you water that tree for those first three years, especially during our really dry periods that we have in the summer, is a big key. Just keeping an eye on it, taking care of it, and then doing a little bit of structural pruning as it’s growing to make sure it has a good — if it’s a plant that needs a good central leader — to do a little, little structural pruning so that you have a nice-shaped tree. And there’s plenty of resources out there. If you need to learn how to prune just a little bit, you can always ask me too or look on our website. We have stuff available to help people take care of trees.
Travis: How does this Celebration of Trees, this tree giveaway, how does this fit into Fayetteville’s larger arboreal programming?
Scott: It fits in with the goal for us to increase our tree canopy. And it fits in nicely when residents plant these trees, they’re contributing to our overall tree canopy for the city. And we are trying to increase our tree canopy, so it fits in perfectly with that. It’s one of our goals from our Urban Forestry Management Plan to expand our tree canopy and create a healthy, sustainable environment. And by doing that, we recommend that you use natives, which is what we’re giving away. So it’s a great way to contribute to that goal that we have to expand our tree canopy.
Travis: Yeah. Can you tell me just a little bit more about that Urban Forestry Management Plan?
Scott: Urban Forestry Management Plan was approved in December of 2024. And it just kind of gives us a guideline on how to expand our canopy and try to create a more sustainable and green city that’s healthy for everybody. If you have a healthy tree canopy, you have a healthy city.
This is part of our Arbor Day celebration. The city — this is kind of funny — Arbor Day has a lot of days. There’s a state Arbor Day. There’s the National Arbor Day, and this is the city’s individual Arbor Day.
Travis: Oh, okay.
Scott: So yeah, it’s kind of interesting how everybody has their own individual Arbor Day.
Travis: Yeah. I never knew that. Yeah, because I thought that we did the Amazing Tree on Arbor Day. So was that National Arbor Day?
Scott: It was the state Arbor Day.
Travis: State Arbor Day. So when — so this tree giveaway is taking place
Scott: Saturday, Oct. 11, 7 a.m.
Travis: And so that’s Fayetteville’s Arbor Day. And then back in — when was that? April.
Scott: April. We had a state — no. Was it March? We had the state in March. And then in April we had National. That’s what I’m thinking of.
Travis: Wow. Lots of Arbor Days.
Scott: Keep them straight and give away plants on each one of those days.
Travis: Absolutely. Lots of opportunities to love trees.
That was Fayetteville Urban Forester John Scott speaking with Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis in the Bruce and Ann Applegate News Studio One. One more time, two giveaways are taking place simultaneously tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. — one at the Spring Street parking deck and another at the downtown square during the Fayetteville Farmers Market. And you must provide proof of residence to acquire your free tree or shrub.
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