Coordinator For Plant Some Shade To Speak At Mahaska County Extension
Plant some Shade
Matt Brewer, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) coordinator for Plant Some Shade will speak at the Mahaska County Extension office on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 7 pm. He will be speaking on tree planting and care as well as the Plant some Shade program. There is no cost to attend this program, and all who are interested larning about tree planting and care are encouraged to attend.
MidAmerican Energy partners with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the Plant Some Shade residential tree-planting program, which is designed to work with local county conservation boards, resource conservation and development councils, and/or county extension offices (local project coordinators) to provide affordable and desirable landscape trees (6-8′) for residents to purchase and plant on their property for long-term community reforestation.
Trees are ordered in bulk numbers from local nurseries to keep costs low and then distributed at a centralized location to minimize transportation costs. Tree recipients are given instructions on how to plant and care for their trees and also receive safety information regarding the danger of planting trees near power lines. A $30 per tree investment is required by tree recipients. The remaining cost of the trees is covered by a grant from Mid American Energy. The trees are not guaranteed or covered by warranty.
Before You Plant
Plan before you plant. Know how tall the tree you plant will be when it reaches maturity and plan appropriately. Planted too close to power lines, branches from tall trees can cause outages and pose serious electric hazards.
Get the scoop before you dig. For no-cost assistance with locating underground utilities, call Iowa One Call, Iowa’s utility notification service, at 800-292-8989, or call 811. It’s the law!
Oskaloosa will be a distribution site this fall; Saturday, October 15 9-11 am. This opportunity is for MidAmerican Energy customers, but is not limited to Oskaloosa city limits. There is a maximum of two trees per customer; preordering and prepayment are required. Order forms are available at the Mahaska County Extension Office; 212 North I Street, Oskaloosa or www.extension.iastate.edu/mahaska.
