Where To Get Free Tree Seedlings In Morris County This April

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — With April being the month of Earth Day, state forestry officials are encouraging neighbors to pick up free tree seedlings to help re-populate areas that have lost trees.

The Community Tree Recovery Program provides residents with seedlings to help re-establish neighborhood trees in places that have had trees die from floods, storms, or insect-related diseases. And planting new trees will help provide shade, filter out pollutants, and provide wildlife habitats in the years to come.

This national program is run by the Arbor Day Foundation, which the New Jersey Forest Service has partnered with for the last nine years — providing more than 800,000 tree seedlings in total to New Jersey residents, organizers said.

There are seedling giveaways in several Morris County communities coming up this month, and residents can pick up five young trees to plant, no matter where they live in the county or state.

Each giveaway location may have a variety of tree species based on what will grow best in the region — North Jersey residents might receive persimmon and red oak trees, for example, while Jersey Shore communities could see salt-tolerant shrub species like bayberry and beach plum. It's recommended that you plant the trees within two days, to keep roots from drying out.

The events are run by the individual town, not the Forest Service — though the state agency has been publicizing the events and provides trees from their nursery. Every municipality in the state was allowed to apply for free trees, the Forest Service said.

Here are all the seedlings giveaways listed on the Community Tree Recovery site for Morris County, organized by date. Again, organizers say you may pick up tree seedlings at any of the locations listed and do not have to be a resident of that particular town:

Friday, April 12

• Denville Township
  • 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Upper Pavilion at Gardner Field, 2 Savage Road
• Madison Borough
  • 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Madison Borough Hall, 50 Kings Road
• Mendham Borough
  • 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Public Works building, 37 Ironia Road
• Roxbury Township
  • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Roxbury Recreation (Horseshoe Lake), 72 Eyland Avenue

Saturday, April 13

• Mendham Township
  • 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Municipal Building Parking Lot, 2 West Main Street, Brookside
• Morris Township
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Frelinghuysen Middle School, 10 Jane Way
• Rockaway Township
  • 10 a.m. at Park Lake, Mt. Hope Pond and Egbert Lake
• Washington Township
  • 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Rock Spring Park, Large Gazebo, 35E Springtown Road, Long Valley

Saturday, April 20

• Mount Olive Township
  • 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Turkey Brook Park Barn
• Mountain Lakes Borough
  • 9 to 11 a.m. at Birchwood Lake Parking Lot 49 on West Shore Road

Sunday, April 21

• Chester Township
  • 9 a.m. to noon at the Chester Library parking lot

Friday, April 26

• Parsippany-Troy Hills Township
  • 10 a.m. at Town Hall, 1001 Parsippany Boulevard
• Morris County
  • 10 a.m. at Frelinghuysen Arboretum at the Schereer Paviliion, 353 East Hanover Avenue, Morristown