TLC Awarded Grant to Plant Oaks

Northwest Herald- 7/18/08- Grant to preserve oak trees:

WOODSTOCK – In the 1830s, about one-third of McHenry County was oak-hickory woodlands. Today, they cover less than 5 percent of the land.

If nothing is done to protect or regenerate the oaks that are left, they could be gone in 20 years, environmental experts said.

“A big problem in the county with our remaining oak woodlands is that a lot of them are on private landowners’ land, and the landowners will mow underneath all the oak trees,” said land protection specialist Linda Balek of The Land Conservancy of McHenry County. As a result, oak seedlings are mowed down before they have a chance to grow.

The Land Conservancy is leading a project to address the local oak decline by planting new trees, raising awareness about the need to take care of existing oaks, and gathering data about local oak trees.

Project Quercus – “quercus” is Latin for oak – began two years ago this month.

In that time, area children have planted, adopted, and named more than 200 small oaks at sites around the county and pledged to water them for two years, Balek said.

The National Environmental Education Foundation awarded a $1,000 grant Friday to The Land Conservancy to help pay for equipment associated with planting baby oak trees on Sept. 27 in Woodstock’s Emricson Park for National Public Lands Day.... MORE

More on Project Quercus

Local Spring Plant Sales

GROW's (Giving Real Opportunities to Women) Annual Plant and Bulb Sale
Saturday, May 3rd, from 8:00am - 4:00pm
270 Country Commons Rd in Trout Valley
They will be selling plants and bulbs donated by local growers and more.
GROW helps at risk mothers and families by providing education opportunities and affordable childcare.

The Wildflower Preservation & Propagation Committee Native Plant Sale 2008
Sunday, May 4th 12:00 - 3:00 pm
McHenry County College Cafeteria 8900 U.S. Highway 14 Crystal Lake, IL 60012
They will be selling prairie plants and grasses, woodland species, organic heirloom garden vegetables and herbs, and Native trees.
WPPC is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting native species through preservation, propagation, and education.

Encouraging Locally Grown Landscape Plants

Northwest Herald - Spangenberg: Buy local for your landscape:

There is an advantage to buying plants from local nurseries.

Locally grown plants tolerate Northern Illinois’ weather and soil conditions. They also support animals, birds and human habitat. They need less pampering, less water and less fertilizer. Also, you are supporting local farmers who are more likely able to keep the land green instead of turning it over to developers.

The Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois was founded in the early 1940s to produce quality nursery stock, hardy and well-acclimated to Midwest and northern U.S. soils and climates. Twenty-two OGA nurseries grow landscape plants on more than 6,000 acres. A comprehensive plant listing of member nurseries’ inventory is published for the landscape and garden trades at www.ogaoni.com.

The Chicagoland Grows plant introduction program is a partnership between the OGA, Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum. Program goals are to develop and introduce to the landscape industry a variety of groundcovers, perennials, trees and shrubs specifically recommended for northern climates. Breeding programs develop new cultivars that exhibit excellent hardiness and ornamental characteristics. Visit www.chicagolandgrows.org and www.mortonarb.org.

When seeking landscape plants, how do you know where they originated? Ask your landscaper or garden center. I planted a Chicagoland Grows Buxus Glencoe boxwood hedge in my backyard more than 10 years ago. The hedge has withstood drought, heat, bitter cold, snow and ice and continues to thrive and maintain outstanding ornamental quality the entire time. The same holds true for an arrowwood viburnum introduction called Autumn Jazz planted about the same time.

Always research plants before purchasing and look for locally grown stock that will stand the test of time.

• Send questions to Bruce Spangenberg, c/o the Features Department, NorthWest News Group, P.O. Box 250, Crystal Lake, IL 60039-0250.

Project Quercus at the Natural Landscaping Seminar

Lisa Haderlein of The Land Conservancy gave this presentation on Project Quercus at the Natural Landscaping Seminar held at McHenry County College in February.

See the video online here

or watch for 'Project Quercus: The Third Generation Oaks'
Airing March 17th 8:30pm on GreenScreen (Comcast Public Access Channel 17)

2007 Living With Trees Awards

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County's annual 'Living With Trees' Award Program was started in 2006 to recognize individuals, organizations, businesses and local governments that have demonstrated outstanding efforts to preserve remaining oak woodlands and savannas of McHenry County.

The Award Winners:

The Village of Lakewood
For the resolution passed by the Village Board to indicate support for the reforestation program and commitment to maintain the Project Quercus trees that were planted or a period of at least 99 years

The Village also has an excellent tree preservation ordinance that requires replacement plantings of nut-producing native trees. Lakewood is also on the Project Quercus Steering Committee and is one of the pilot sites for the 2007 plantings.

McHenry County Conservation District
For the study in 2007 that documents the changes in the McHenry County's oak woodlands since the the 1830s.

Volunteer Nancy Schietzelt
Volunteer Nancy Schietzelt coordinated the 2007 Project Quercus program, from mailing letters to potential volunteers and site sponsors, to setting up scouting the planting sites for appropriateness for planting oaks, to coordinating the four planting events. Nancy organized the tools, the people, and the 102 Oak seedlings planted (donated by Glacier Oaks Nursery).

The Living With Trees Award is sponsored by McHenry County Nursery, Glacier Oaks Nursery and McHenry County Soil & Water Conservation District

Update: Saving McHenry County Oak Groves

February 4, 2008
The Chicago Tribune came out recently to our sister company Glacier Oaks Nursery to interview Joe and Mary about Project Quercus. The article ran today in the Tribune:

McHenry County coalition works to return oaks to full splendor
In McHenry County, coalition taking steps to restore shrinking forests
By Carolyn Starks- Tribune staff reporter

"The oak saplings at Glacier Oaks Nursery in Harvard are bundled like children in a snowstorm inside warm tunnels that will help them thrive until spring. They may look fragile, but their spindly branches carry a heavy burden.

Conservationists are counting on these baby trees as a small step in helping assure that mighty oak forests remain rooted in McHenry County..."

12/29/07
Another article on Project Quercus in McHenry County:
'County's Oak Population Getting Bare'
Northwest Herald, 12/28/07

The following is a breakdown of oak forest coverage in McHenry County by the year.
1838: 143,000 acres.
1872: 72,000 acres.
1939: 26,350 acres.
2005: 18,000 acres.

12/17/07
This month, an article titled 'Group Out to save McHenry County's Oak Groves' was published in the Daily Herald about the Land Conservancy of McHenry County's efforts to preserve oak groves through education, ordinances, and restoration.

"When 17th century French explorers first arrived in the area northwest of present-day Chicago, they marveled at the region's vast oak groves, writing that it was as if a higher power planted each tree individually to maximize their beauty.

Hundreds of years later, the beauty of those groves remains in what is now McHenry County, but ecologists fear that may not be the case for much longer.

With the increasing pressures of development, poor management and sparse efforts to replace dying trees, the number of oaks has fallen precipitously, down to just over 10 percent of what it was when European settlers arrived in the 1830s.

Fearing it may be now or never for McHenry County's oaks, a group of governments, environmental groups and arborists are banding together to save what's left.

"Not only have we cut down a lot of trees for construction, but a lot of what's left out there is sick and dying," said Lisa Haderlein, executive director of the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. "People are going to have to intervene to change the situation."

That was the philosophy behind the Land Conservancy creating Project Quercus (Latin for oak), a joint effort of nurseries, villages, state and federal agencies and tree-related businesses to save McHenry County's remaining oak groves."

Beeson's McHenry County Nursery and Glacier Oaks Nursery have been involved in Project Quercus and grow the oak seedling for planting at sites across the county. For more information, see TLC's Winter newsletter.

Tornado

We survived the tornado without a scratch, however, some of our neighbors were not so lucky . Thankfully no one was injured.