A Message From the City Arborist: Rebuilding Dunedin’s Tree Canopy
Published on April 13, 2026
Written by: Rick Warner, City of Dunedin Arborist
We are very excited and proud to celebrate our 36th consecutive year as a Tree City USA. We are also celebrating Arbor Day on Saturday, April 18, with our annual tree giveaway for Dunedin residents. The event will be held at Achieva Credit Union Headquarters, 1659 Achieva Way, beginning at 8 a.m.
As we all know, our city has lost a significant number of trees over the past few years, largely due to hurricanes. In addition, an infestation of Ips engraver beetles (Ips calligraphus) has impacted our Slash and Longleaf Pines. We have also experienced one of the worst droughts in recent memory, along with brutal cold snaps, and some trees have simply reached the end of their natural lifespan.
For these reasons, this may be our most important tree giveaway yet. We encourage everyone to come out and take advantage of this opportunity to help begin re-establishing our canopy throughout the city.
Last year, we noticed some reluctance to select traditional shade trees such as Southern Live Oaks and Longleaf Pines. Many people were still in shock and understandably cautious following the hurricanes and the stress and damage they caused. While those concerns are valid, we encourage everyone to take another look. Trees take a long time to mature. Many of the failures we saw were the result of a lifetime of over-pruning, or improper pruning, which made larger trees more susceptible to failure than they otherwise would have been.
We have learned a great deal about proper structural pruning over the past 35 years. Many of our existing trees were affected long before that. Think of this as an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past. Large Oaks are not inherently hazardous. In many cases, they were made vulnerable over time. We can grow better, stronger shade trees for future generations.
If you are still not convinced, we have added seven new species to the 10 species we gave away last year, for a total of 17 species and 850 trees. All are Florida native species and have at least moderate tolerance to salt, wind and drought. Most are classified as ornamental and are not expected to reach heights much greater than 20 feet.
The new species for this year include Green Buttonwood, Silver Buttonwood, Fiddlewood, Gumbo Limbo, Jamaica Caper, Sea Grape and Simpson’s Stopper.
As always, you can expect to see these trees as well: American Elm, Bald Cypress, Crape Myrtle, Dahoon Holly, Longleaf Pine, Red Maple, Southern Live Oak, Southern Magnolia, Southern Red Cedar and Walter’s Viburnum.
The Arbor Day Tree Giveaway is for Dunedin residents only, while supplies last. And do not forget, “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.