News Trees Still available this Thursday in Vinton‏

Trees will be available for sale this Thursday, May 17th between 4:30 and 6:30 pm at Rodgers Park in Vinton

Alliant Energy, Iowa DNR Forestry Bureau, and Benton County Conservation Board are partnering to offer high quality landscape trees Alliant customers at a very low cost. Operation ReLeaf will be offering landscape trees for $25.00 per tree. These trees retail between $65 and $120.00, so this is an exceptional opportunity. If you are interested, come to the event at 4:30 pm this Thursday. This is a great opportunity for residents, Businesses, and organizations to replace trees that may have been lost in a storm, or add to their landscaping.


Benton County Event Location: Rodgers Park, Vinton
Thursday, May 17th from 4:30 – 6:30 pm

Species still available are:
Species are:
Shade Trees – in #7 or #10 gallon containers, 7’ – 9’ tall
· Swamp White Oak – High Storm damage resistance, thrives on moist sites. Native to Iowa
· Honeylocust – Small leaflets create beautiful filtered sunlight and shade, and have very little raking required. Lower storm damage resistance
· London Planetree – Beautiful large deep-shade tree with intermediate storm damage resistance; similar to sycamore
· Littleleaf Linden – High Storm Damage resistance. Glenleven is one of the few Littleleaf Linden also resistant to Japanese Beetle. Wonderful sweet scent when flowering

Flowering Ornamentals - # 7 container, 5’ – 7’ tall
Flowering Crabapple – Beautiful spring flowers.

Conifers # 5 containers, 2’ – 4’ tall
Norway Spruce

For more information about each species, download this application form and click on the species name. This will take you to a picture and information about that species. You may also call or e-mail me with additional questions. If you complete the form and bring with you to the event, that would be great!

Improper planting is one of the main causes early mortality of landscape trees. There will also be two 30 minute workshops at 5:00 and 6:00 pm presented by District Forester, Mark Vitosh, to help you successfully plant and care for your trees. The topics covered will be:

o Proper Planting and Mulching – Planting your tree improperly can dramatically shorten the life of your tree. You will learn to
o Find the root collar and plant at the right depth
o Eliminate encircling roots and minimize transplant shock
o Mulch to benefit the health of the tree
o Corrective Pruning of Landscape Trees
o Tree Placement for Maximum Cooling Cost Reduction
o How to Select a Quality Landscape Tree to last a lifetime

This workshop is free, but please e-mail me back by to let me know if you plan on attending to insure we have enough materials.

Even if you don’t live in Benton county, you are welcome to purchase a tree at this and attend a free workshop. If you have questions about this event, feel free to call me at 515-494-6320

If you are interested in learning more about how to care for your trees, I encourage you to join the Iowa Grove by clicking on the link below. On the grove, we post events such as this one, as well as current forest health information, training, grant opportunities, and research. Join the Iowa Grove today