Submitted article

The Crawford Soil and Water Conservation District is conducting their annual tree sale. Orders will be accepted thru March 27 while supplies last. Evergreens and broadleaf trees are sold 10-in-a-pack for $12. The beauty, nut and wildlife variety packs contain a total of 10 seedlings with various species of shrubs or trees and are sold for $20.

Place your order to help the environment today. Order forms and species descriptions and links are available at the Crawford SWCD office or on the website at www.crawfordswcd.org. Call 419-562-8280 or stop at the office at 3111 State Route 98, Bucyrus, weekdays 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., for an order form and species descriptions. The packets will be ready for pick up Thursday, April 9 from 3:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. and Friday, April 10 from 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Colorado blue spruce, Norway spruce, and white pine are the evergreen species available for purchase this year. They are three-year old transplants 8 – 18 inches in height. Evergreen transplants have better survivability because they have more developed root systems. They were dug up from the seedling bed, root pruned, and re-planted at a thinner density for one year.

Black walnut, red oak and tulip poplar are the broadleaf species available. These broadleaf trees are one or two year old seedlings 12 –18 inches in height. This size seedling survives very well.

The beauty packets contain 2-sargent crabapple, 2-serviceberry, 2-lilac, 2-flowering dogwood and 2-black chokeberry shrubs. Nut packs contain 3-hazelnut, 2-northern pecan, 3-butternut and 2-black walnuts. The wildlife pack contains 2-persimmon, 2-domestic apple, 2-red mulberry, 2-American plum and 2-white oaks.

Planting trees helps the environment in many ways. They provide winter windbreaks and living snow fences. Windbreaks can reduce fuel bills by as much as 30 percent. Trees along streams reduce soil and chemical runoff from surrounding lawns and fields by as much as 60 percent. Trees properly placed near buildings can reduce air conditioning costs up to 50 percent. Through the process of transpiration, a moderate-sized tree cools the summer air as much as 20 average room air conditioners running 20 hours per day.