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Holmes SWCD Tree Seedling Sale through March 16

• Michelle Wood
• January 31, 2020
• 1096

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffet.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb.

“You bought more trees? Where in the heck are you going to plant them?” — My husband.

OK, I’m just picking on my husband — he’s all in for trees too, although he likes to give me a hard time when I bring more home (except paw paws; he loves paw paws). We can always find more room on our property to plant a few more trees, and hopefully you can too. The Holmes SWCD Tree Seedling Sale, going on now until the March 16 deadline, has some great opportunities for a variety of trees at reasonable prices.

This year’s sale offers Norway spruce, Douglas fir and Scotch pine in bundles of 25 seedlings, 10-18 inches tall for $15. We couldn’t get white pines that size from our nursery, but we could get limited quantities of white pine as 2-2 transplants (4-year-old trees), 18-30 inches tall in bundles of 10 for $40. These will have larger root systems than the other varieties, so they will have a head start on growing.

We also have the ever-popular American arborvitae (white cedar) as 2-2 transplants coming in at 18-24 inches in bundles of five for $15. Fences make good neighbors, but so do borders of arborvitae.

Have you been cutting ash trees and need some replacements? Northern red oak, sugar maple and flowering dogwood are 18 inches tall and in packs of five for $12. Our nursery assembles a Nut Pack (three hazelnut, two northern pecan, three butternut and two black walnut measuring 12-18 inches for $25) and a Pollinator Pack (two each of red osier dogwood, choke cherry, American plum, meadowsweet and pasture rose for $25). The Pollinator Pack would do well in a more naturalized area.

We like to offer some “unusual” varieties each year, so this year we are offering paw paw (18 inches tall) in packs of five for $20. Paw paws are native to Southern Ohio (but seem to do well in the northern part) and produce an edible banana-like fruit. They are an understory tree in their native habitat.

And for those interested in improving naturalized areas — like the edge of woods or fences — thimbleberries are beautiful shrubs with prominent white blossoms and large star-shaped leaves that form a dense cover. The showy clusters of fragrant white flowers attract bumblebees and other pollinators. Blooms are followed by deep-red fruit available to eat in mid- to late-summer.

Birds love the berries, but they are edible for people too. I remember when there used to be thimbleberries growing along the Holmes County Trail between Fredericksburg and Holmesville until a utility line clearing project wiped them out. Because of high demand, our nursery had to cut our initial order in half, so thimbleberry quantities are very limited. We are selling them in packs of five for $12 (18-24 inches tall).

Profits from our tree sale help fund education programs including providing mini-grants to teachers and supporting conservation projects like Boy Scouts planting trees. It’s easy to order — see www.HolmesSWCD.com for information about our tree sale, descriptions of the different species and online ordering (a credit card convenience fee applies).

You also can download and print an order form and mail it with payment to our office or call our office at 330-674-2811 ext. 3 and we will happily snail mail an order form to you. If you are in Millersburg, you are welcome to stop by our office at 62 W. Clinton St., Millersburg, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and order in person. All orders must be picked up Thursday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holmes County Highway Garage, 7191 state Route 39, Millersburg. Remember the order deadline is March 16.