If you’ve been meaning to put a dogwood in the front yard, or a pawpaw by the creek, March is your chance — and you don’t have to leave Lynchburg to get one.

Reservations are now open for Tennessee Tree Day, the Tennessee Environmental Council’s annual native tree giveaway. Moore County residents can pick up their seedlings Friday, March 19, at the UT/TSU Extension office located at 241 Main Street in Lynchburg.

But you have to reserve them first. Trees must be ordered and paid for online by 7 a.m. March 1, though the council’s own social media is telling people Feb. 28, so don’t cut it close.

Seedlings carry a suggested donation of $3.99 to $9.99 per tree. They’re bare-root trees, one to two years old and 1 to 3 feet tall depending on the species.

This year’s statewide lineup includes American beautyberry, American elderberry, American plum, Eastern redbud, flowering dogwood, red maple, pawpaw, shadblow serviceberry, shortleaf pine and white oak. All are native to Tennessee.

Tennesseans facing financial hardship can request free trees through a scholarship form on the Tree Day website. Those are limited, so apply early.

How to reserve

Go to tectn.org and find Tennessee Tree Day under Get Involved. Click the Moore County site on the pickup map, follow the link to the online store, and choose your trees. Or go straight to the Moore County order page: secure.qgiv.com/for/ttd27columbiahub/event/lynchburgutmooreco.

A few things to know before you click:

Pick the right site. Once your order is placed, your trees can’t be moved to a different pickup location.

Use the same email address for every transaction and save your receipt. If one doesn’t arrive, email treeday@tectn.org.

Bring nothing but yourself. Cash isn’t accepted at pickup, and everything is paid online in advance.

Mind the hours. The Moore County site is open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, March 19, only. It’s closed Saturday. Can’t make it? Someone else can pick up your trees for you.

If extreme weather hits, the backup pickup dates are April 2-3.

Bare-root trees don’t like to wait. Keep the roots wrapped and moist, and get them in the ground as soon as you can.

Call 811 about 10 days before Tree Day so underground utility lines can be marked before you dig.

Then plan to babysit your trees for three years. That means about 3 gallons of water a week during heat and drought, mulch spread in a donut shape that doesn’t touch the bark, and protection from mowers, weed eaters and deer.

The Tennessee Environmental Council is a Nashville-based nonprofit founded in 1970. It started Tree Day in 2007 and partners with the Tennessee Division of Forestry and nurseries across the state to distribute the seedlings. Since then, the council says, more than 100,000 Tennesseans have planted more than 1 million native trees through the program.

Questions can go to treeday@tectn.org or 615-248-6500. •

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