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Kansas Forest Service offering low-cost seedlings this fallKansas This fall is shaping up to be the best in recent memory for planting trees and shrubs, according to a Kansas Forest Service forester. "The state's combination of soil moisture and temperatures is definitely making the 2008 fall planting season the most promising we've seen--at the very least, since our Conservation Tree Planting Program started offering fall seedlings three years ago," said Joshua Pease, the KFS conservation program coordinator. The KFS will be accepting fall orders this year from the first week of September through the second week of October. The available species include eastern redbud, lacebark elm, bur oak, sawtooth oak, English oak, black walnut, pecan, fragrant sumac, southwestern white pine, Ponderosa pine, Austrian pine, and eastern redcedar. "Fall is an excellent time to plant seedlings in the central High Plains. With sufficient soil moisture, fall-planted seedlings can settle in quickly, survive winter in good shape, and begin robust growth the following spring," Pease said. The Kansas Forest Service's largest and best-known distribution of low-cost conservation plants occurs during spring, when both bareroot and container-grown plants are available. The relatively new fall offerings are limited to container-grown plants, so they'll have a head start on becoming established before winter, Pease said. The program also has changed, he said, to become more "homeowner-friendly" for Kansans with limited to small acreage. Historically, farm and ranch landowners have made best use of the seedlings for everything from windbreaks and snow fences to wildlife habitat and riparian plantings. "Now we're offering the plants in bundles of 25 seedlings. In essence, we've cut our old bundle size in half," Pease said. "This way, someone who owns less than an acre also has the opportunity to create a living privacy screen, songbird planting, windbreak or shade area." In many cases, just one bundle of seedlings is all that's needed on a small property. "For example, a simple one-row windbreak of evergreens requires a plant every 12 to 15 feet. At that rate, a bundle of evergreen seedlings could extend about 300 to 375 feet," the forester said. "Since a property that's one square acre has four sides that are about 209 feet each, one bundle would be just about right." The tree-planting program started this fall's deciduous (hardwood) plant offerings from seed last March. They now are about 2 feet tall. The evergreens started from seed a year earlier than that. They've reached about 18 inches tall. The container-grown plants cost $50 per one-species bundle of 25. "The containers don't look like much, but they make all the difference in how well fall plantings adjust. They're tubes that are about 2 inches across and 8 inches deep," Pease said. "You remove the seedlings from their tubes as you prepare to plant them. The plant roots hold the soil plug intact while you get them into the ground." Kansans with a credit card can place orders by phone (888-740-8733) or via the Internet (www.kansasforests.org). For those who prefer paying by check, order forms are available on the same Internet site, as well as from any Kansas Forest Service district forester or any local or county office of the Natural Resource Conservation Service and of Kansas State University Research and Extension. "Any of those sources and contacts also can provide more information about choosing the best species for your purpose and successfully putting in a conservation-related planting," Pease said. 9/15/08 Date: 9/9/08 Advertisement
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