Soil & Water Dist. Offers New and Improved Tree and Seedling Sale

In spite of the fact that the area remains buried under several inches of snow, the Putnam County Soil & Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) is announcing the start of its popular Tree & Shrub Seedling Sale. Each year, the PCSWCD offers a variety of native trees, shrubs, groundcovers, grasses and flowers as well as bat, bird and owl houses for sale as part of its conservation efforts. 

“Spring will come. It will,” said Senior Environmental Planner and District Manager Lauri Taylor. “Now is actually a great time to plan or redesign your garden or property and order seedlings. And this year, we have a whole new menu of available trees, shrubs and flowers to choose from. We’re really very excited.”

A four-page color brochure providing plant and tree information plus an order form is available online at www.putnamcountyny.com/keepputnamgreen. New to this year’s roster are Eastern Hophornbeam, Lowbush Blueberry, Meadowsweet, Nannyberry, Snowberry, Summersweet, Swamp Rose, Washington Hawthorne, Blazing Star, American Cranberry, Concord Grape and Bonanza Daylily.

Taylor suggests orders be placed as early as possible as quantities are limited. All orders must be accompanied with payment and be received by March 25. Orders may be mailed to Putnam County SWCD, 841 Fair Street, Carmel, NY 10512 and checks should be made payable to Putnam County Commissioner of Finance. 

Participants may pick up their orders at Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park, 201 Gipsy Trail Road in Kent on Friday, April 24 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and on Saturday, April 25 from 10 a.m. until noon. A postcard will be sent out to all as a reminder of pick-up dates and times.

The PCSWCD was established in 1967. It consists of a five member Board of Directors comprised of two Legislators and three community members. The District works in conjunction with the Department of Planning, Development & Public Transportation. The District concerns its with a range of soil and water resource conservation concerns including protection of streams, floodplains and wetlands and land disturbing activities in order to minimize the impact on surface water quality and stormwater runoff.