Haiwatha High teacher says 475 saplings to be given free to Kirkland residents

Josh Dodge, Haiwatha High School agriculture teacher, FFA advisor and greenhouse manager, told the Village of Kirkland Tree Advisory Commission that he purchased 475 one-year-old saplings from Mason State Nursery for distribution to residents and that the trees "were to be given away to residents, without concern for remuneration." The order (Mason State Nursery #16259) lists shagbark hickory (25), red maple (100), bald cypress (100), sycamore (100), swamp white oak (100), pecan (25) and elderberry (25); the order total was $335, shipping $152 and the amount paid $487. Dodge said the saplings were bare-root and potted by students and cautioned that "20-30 percent will not emerge from dormancy," particularly pecan, hickory and oak.

Commission members discussed how to get the trees to appropriate planting sites and who would care for them. Dodge outlined a distribution timeline: the high school greenhouse will open to the public on May 1; it will be safe to put trees outside the greenhouse on May 10; and the greenhouse will be cleaned out and closed on May 22, so "ideally...all the trees should be taken and planted by then." Jeff Miller offered to design a flyer to include with the next water bill; Brian Benes said he would ask Village Clerk Leslie to post a message to residents and share the information on Facebook and the Village Forum page; students could create care-instruction cards for each tree. Commissioners discussed backup plans for unadopted saplings, including contacting the DeKalb County Forest Preserve, using a Public Works parcel as a temporary nursery, and arranging summer care or fall planting if necessary.