A previous year’s seedling wrapping crew
By Dawn Weber
Board Member-at-Large, Wild Ones – St. Louis Chapter
Each year, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) offers Missouri residents a variety of tree and shrub seedlings for reforestation, windbreaks, and erosion control, as well as for wildlife food and cover.
MDC provides mainly one-year-old, bare-root seedlings. A few species are two years old, and they are noted as 2-0 in the pricing chart. The size of the seedlings varies greatly depending on the species, which are available in bundles of 10 and 25.
You have two ways of ordering:
- If you want a large number of seedlings, you can order from MDC directly. Online ordering is open now.
- Members of Wild Ones can participate in our group seedling order, which provides the opportunity to order less than the minimum number of seedlings per species.
- Order via the paper signup sheet at the November 2nd gathering. If you plan to order at the gathering, you will want to review the catalog ahead of time. Note that while many of the trees and shrubs in the catalog are native to Missouri, they are not all native. Our WIld Ones group order will be only for the native species, primarily the shrubs and smaller trees.
- Order through the Wild Ones online signup sheet. If you would like seedlings, just enter your name at the top of a column on the Wild Ones order form and the number you want for each seedling. If you have problems with the spreadsheet, contact Ana Grace, a.grace@sbcglobal.net or 314-962-2816 or Betty Struckhoff, etstruckhoff@att.net or 314-966-8404.
You must have an active Wild Ones membership to participate in our group order. If you’ve been thinking about joining and want to get some seedlings, now is the time to follow through! To join, see Fran at the gathering on November 2 or contact her via our website.
The seedlings are sold for $1 each, to cover the cost of shipping and offset the cost of tree donations our chapter makes in the spring.
Also, MDC has seedlings available for larger trees. If you would like some, and are willing to order in multiples of 10, we can include them in this order. Contact Ana or Betty to order.
The last date to request seedlings through the group order form is Wednesday, November 16 at 11:59 p.m.
Payment is collected when the seedlings are distributed in April, because the nursery is not always able to deliver what we ask for, and adjustments are made sometimes.
Not sure what you will need to do when the seedlings arrive? See this great post from Larry Hummel on his methods.
