Nashville Tree Foundation

The annual Big Old Tree Contest recognizes the largest and oldest trees in Davidson County. The contest is free, and the public is invited to participate by entering the measurements and a photo of their favorite tree on NTF's website.  A state forester is employed to judge trees and verify winners for each species class.  Tree tags with the tree's common and Latin name and winning year are presented to each winning tree at a community celebration.  This registry works well with the newly created Metro Historic and Specimen Tree program designed to encourage and support preservation. All data is available for review and study by the public.

Nashville Tree Fest will provide 800 free trees to Nashvillians across the city. The trees will be distributed at 8 Nashville neighborhood farmers' markets this fall (100 trees per market), including a market serving the North Nashville priority area as determined by the Root Nashville campaign.  The program began four years ago as a free education workshop for the community at which a variety of important tree-related topics were covered (e.g. boundary trees, tree replacement code, tree care, and diseases and pests).  With the increasing threats to Nashville's urban forest, Nashville Tree Fest evolved in 2018 to focus on canopy regeneration by providing free 1- and 3-gallon container trees to the public. A variety of native shade and understory trees were selected to support biodiversity.  Trees are tracked in a database to measure the long-term environmental impact.  Experts are on hand at each market to provide educational materials and tree care advice.  NTF will follow up with each recipient about tree care and pertinent information.  The goal of the 2019 Nashville Tree Fest will be to increase ratio of 1-gallon and 3-gallon size from 25% 3-gallon in 2018 to 50% 3-gallon trees.