Another Source for Seedlings

I gave the little fella an apologetic pat. “You know what you should do?,” my friend Tom Gosek had advised.

Tom is the president of the Freeland Kennel Club in Weatherly. “You should cut all the low branches from these white pine trees, and then the bucks will start using them for rubs.”

I took his advice. And the bucks did start using the young white pine trees for rubs – to the point where I’m not sure that any of them will survive. But that’s the thing about forests; they are constantly in a state of growing and dying.

For the past years, some friends of mine and I have worked to reclaim and replant areas of my small farm, planting more than 500 trees of various species. Some thrived and some did not, but every year I looked forward to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s annual seedling sale, held in conjunction with Howard Nursery.

Howard Nursery has been producing and distributing from 2 to 8 million seedlings annually since 1954. However, citing “lack of surplus,” the PGC has suspended seedling sales this year and plans to resume in 2019.

Another annual seedling sale has been ongoing in Schuylkill County for 43 years. The Schuylkill Conservation District and the Sweet Arrow Lake Conservation Association have teamed up to offer a wide variety of seedlings. The deadline for ordering is April 4, and the seedlings must be picked up between 9 a.m. and noon at Sweet Arrow Lake County Park, Pine Grove.

You don’t have to be a resident of Schuylkill County to take advantage of the sale, and a jaunt to pick up your seedlings will give you a chance to visit Schuylkill’s gem of a county park. The very pro-active Sweet Arrow Lake Conservation Association advocates planting seedlings to “increase property value, enhance wildlife habitat, beautify the landscape and improve the environment.”

“Porcupine Pat” McKinney, Environmental Educator for the Schuylkill Conservation District, said that planning a family outing to plant seedling trees can be a memorable learning experience. He said that organizers are anticipating a big sale.

“The sale could be more successful than usual due to the temporary suspension of the Game Commission sale,” McKinney said. “People should get their orders in early.”

The evergreen varieties (Douglas Fir, Norway Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce, American Arborvitae, Eastern White Pine and Austrian Pine) are sold in bundles of 10 at $9 per bundle. The seedlings are from 3-to-4 years old, depending on the species.

The other varieties available (Pin Oak, White Flowering Dogwood, Red Bud, American Cranberry, Winterberry and Pond Cypress) are sold in bundles of 5 at $8 per bundle. Those seedlings are from 2-to-3 years old, again, depending on the species.

For a complete description of each of the available species, including space needed, type of terrain where it will thrive, and eventual size, see www.sweetarrowlake.com and look for the seedling sale information.