Tree Sale Program: Frequently Asked Questions

Nashville Tree Conservation Corps had a question: How do people in Nashville get a big tree planted in their yard? We analyzed this issue and determined that it takes a lot of work and significant cost to get a nice, big tree planted in a person’s yard. A tree that has a 1.5 inch to 2 inch diameter trunk and that is over 6 feet tall usually costs $300-500 to buy at a retail store, transport and plant. That’s a lot of money, like the cost of an iPad! We viewed this cost and process as an inhibitor to getting new trees planted in Nashville, so we asked how we could we make this process better. We quickly realized that a tree gets marked up a lot by the time a person buys it from a nursery. It also takes significant work to move a single tree from a nursery lot to a person’s yard, and therefore the nursery usually charges $50-$100 to have a crew deliver a tree and then another $100 or so to plant the tree. The normal process to get a tree from a retail nursery to a person’s yard is inefficient and therefore costly. Our program achieves the prices it does by cutting out retail markup. We found a tree broker to sell us steeply discounted trees: Bryan Shelton with Tennessee Tree and Shrub. He knows all the tree farms in Tennessee and has very low overhead (he’s a big guy in a big truck with a big trailer), and he is a trusted Metro and Root Nashville vendor. Because we offer a limited selection of tree species, we are able to streamline this operation to be very efficient and pass on the savings to you. All of this combined produces a program that gets you a nice size tree delivered to your yard for about $130-150. For an additional fee, you can also choose to have Bryan Shelton’s crew plant your tree.

No, there is no cost markup for this program that goes to the organization. Before you add a tree to your cart, you will be asked if you would like to donate $10 before adding it to your cart. We kindly ask that you consider donating to us. We are an all-volunteer organization, and we are building this program in our free time, in between our day-jobs and other commitments. Your contributions don’t go to anyone’s salary—they go directly to helping us maintain programs like this one and promote trees in Nashville even more.

You’re able to buy a tree anytime during the year with this program. Delivery and planting will occur during tree planting season which is generally between the months of October and April. Trees ordered during summer months will begin delivery sometime in October. September is when the delivery calendar for the proceeding tree planting season will be released.

Trees will be delivered in “order batches” once every 4-6 weeks. Cut-off dates for batches will be two weeks prior to delivery. We do this in order to give our tree vendor and tree-planting crew two weeks to prepare the trees, labor, equipment and material needed for the delivery of trees. Click here to go to Tree Order & Delivery Calendar.

Trees will have “curbside delivery” service, which typically means the vendor will move the tree into your front yard area. You are welcome to contact the vendor directly if you have special delivery instructions, such as backyard placement. We ask that you be respectful of our delivery crew, and if you ask them to deliver the tree to a tough spot, that you consider tipping them or making the procedure as easy on them as possible.

Click on this link to go to our delivery calendar page. This calendar will provide the most up-to-date delivery schedule. Tree delivery is highly influenced by weather conditions. Intermittent weather of any kind can result in delays to our delivery service. If you ordered a tree, we will have your contact information, and we will let you know as soon as we learn that our delivery service dates will have to be adjusted due to weather conditions or other factors out of our control.

If you order the tree-planting service with your tree, you will receive a letter in the mail from Nashville Tree Conservation Corps with a flag and instructions. You should place the flag in your yard where you want your tree to be planted. We will arrange  811 service and have underground utilities marked before the tree planting crew team arrives.  ou will need to have your flag(s) placed where a tree(s) is to be planted before the tree planting crew arrives. You are not required to be home during tree planting.

A Tree Diaper is so much better than it sounds! It is a newly developed product from Virginia Tech designed specifically to help provide newly planted trees in urban environments with moisture retention around the base. The product is not a watering bag; it is filled with the same material that a diaper is filled with in a thick, industrial, tough permeable packet. It absorbs water and retains it during long periods without rain or water. It keeps newly planted trees from drying out during droughts. This product does require watering, but not as often as constantly filling up water bags. It is an excellent innovation for trees planted in urban environments, and we are extending our 50% discount on this product to you if you purchase it with a tree. We highly recommend (and really insist) that you purchase a Tree Diaper with the trees you acquire through our program in order to maximize the survival of your tree.

A newly planted tree will need significant care for the first 2-3 years after planting. You will have to ensure that your tree will not endure the brunt of droughts. During dry seasons, you will need to water your tree with a trickle of water from a hose for 20-30 minutes at least 2-3 times per week.

Nashville Tree Conservation Corps cannot offer a 100% replacement guarantee with your tree if it dies. We will work with you to the best of our ability to replace your tree if it dies. Our mission is to help you plant a tree in your yard and so if your tree dies, we want to do everything feasible to get a replacement tree to you.

We work with Metro Horticulturalist Jennifer Smith and the Metro Tree Advisory Committee to select the species that are best suited to Nashville’s climate and urban environment. We determine our selection based on the following criteria in this order: 1) What is generally a strong safe tree for our neighborhood 2) What tree will produce the most tree canopy 3) What tree will grow well in most urban situations 4) What tree is best suited for our native ecology 5) What tree helps add more biodiversity to our urban tree canopy.

We have had orders in the past where a single household purchased a large number of trees and had an expectation that the tree vendor would help design their backyard and plant trees in difficult spots. For that reason, we want to to clarify that this is a program developed by a non-profit with the goal to maximize tree canopy restoration. You are welcome to call our tree vendor ahead of time and negotiate additional landscaping services as needed. We want to be sure that all our buyers have a clear expectation of what this program offers: a high-quality, great-value tree that is delivered conveniently.

Absolutely! Our confirmation email is connected to both Nashville Tree Conservation Corps. One of us will get back to you as soon as possible. Folks at Nashville Tree Conservation Corps typically work during the evening hours, so please be patient with our responses. Contact us at: help@treeconservationcorps.org

Nashville Tree Conservation Corps and the Metro Tree Advisory Committee and are now the two lead sponsors of this program. Before Nashville Tree Conservation Corps incorporated as a Tennessee non-profit and federal 501(c)3, we were known as the Nashville Tree Task Force, and we originally conceived and developed the framework for this program. So, we felt it was fitting that we continue to take a lead role in the program’s operations. Cumberland River Compact is the sponsor for Root Nashville and as they expand that program, they were unable to devote additional resources to this tree sale.

In Tennessee, sales tax applies to Tennessee non-profit merchandise sales. Despite the fact that planting trees is part of our mission statement, the state views this as a merchandise transaction, and therefore we must apply sales tax to this program.

If you choose to donate the cost of a tree to us, thank you! When we receive your donation, we will send you a receipt which you can use for a tax deduction. We will also personally follow up with you to determine if you have any special requests on where and what kind of tree you would like to have planted.

As of 2024, and not including all of the trees in the Shelby Ave Arboretum or other special projects, we’ve distributed and planted 3,741 trees to date!

Trees sold in this program will have at least a 1.5 inch diameter trunk measured 6 inches from the base of the tree and will be at a minimum 6 feet tall. Typically, these trees will be much larger than 6 feet in tall. Most trees average about 10 feet in height, but height varies by species, by growth conditions and by natural variance. Your tree will be uniquely shaped and sized, but we ensure trees we sell are at least 6 feet tall and at least 1.5 inch diameter. If we sell smaller varieties, we will make sure it is made explicitly clear in our product descriptions.

Most or all of our trees will be balled and burlap, which means the trees have been grown in the ground and then cut out of the ground with a machine and wrapped in burlap and a wire cage. Container grown trees are trees that have been grown in containers their entire lifetime or for a time after being dug out of the ground. There are pros and cons to each method, but many professionals we have consulted consider the balled and burlap method to be the best way to move a tree. A container grown tree can often be root bound and have a hard-to-correct root spiral pattern in which roots are unable to grow outside of the pot. This could lead to problems later down the road. Balled and burlap trees do not have this root-bound issue. The only drawback is that balled and burlap trees may go through more transplant shock as their roots are cut during the digging process. This shock is usually minimal, and there are precise measurements and factors that go into digging trees out of the ground before they are wrapped in burlap. This is one of the important reasons why we plant trees in the fall and winter—it ensures the tree has time to re-establish its roots during the dormant months and have strong growth in the spring in its new home in your yard.

In the springtime, depending on availability and sourcing opportunities, we may transition our tree delivery to trees that are mostly container grown in order to decrease mortality rate due to transplant shock.

Maybe, but we don’t advise it if you are not an experienced tree planter. Whether or not you should remove the wire cage is often discussed among arborists and tree professionals. A tree isn’t bound by a wire cage naturally, but the cage holds the delicate root ball together and if removed too soon or haphazardly, it can cause the root ball to crumble and break delicate and important roots. If you leave a wire cage around your tree, it can take decades for the wire cage to breakdown in the soil and may cause roots to get entangled in it as the tree grows. Many experts argue that the chances of this are slim, so our recommendation is that you keep the wire cage on unless you are an experienced tree planter and you’re absolutely certain you can remove the wire cage without damaging the root ball.

We recommend you read the material found here. When planting a tree, there is one especially important rule: Don’t plant your tree too deep! A tree that is planted too deep will be more susceptible to rot around its trunk and will often develop spiraling root patterns. The roots will eventually encircle the trunk and literally suffocate a tree as it grows. A tree planted too deep is also harder to adjust in the planting hole than a tree planted too shallow, and during the adjustment process you are more likely to damage the tree’s delicate root ball. Make sure you take time to measure the depth of your tree’s root ball and the depth of the hole you dig. It is better that a tree is planted 1-2 inches above the surface of your yard than below it. A newly planted tree will usually sink about 1-2 inches within a year of being planted due to soil compression. So, make sure you account for this when you plant your tree.