HOWARD NURSERY TAKING FINAL SEEDLING ORDERS FOR THE SEASON
HARRISBURG - Landowners seeking to plant tree species beneficial to wildlife have until April 27 to submit their seedling orders to the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Howard Nursery. For a listing of those species remaining and an order form, landowners are encouraged to visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on the "Forms and Programs" section and choose "Howard Nursery Seedling Program."
Minimum orders are for 300 seedlings, which cost 15 cents per seedling (plus sales tax) and are placed in bundles of 50 of each species. The following species are still available for this spring: mugo pine; red pine; Norway spruce; white spruce; arborvitae; silky dogwood; black locust; sawtooth oak; scrub oak; buttonbush; Washington hawthorne; American sweet crabapple; crabapple; and American mountain ash. A descrïption of each, along with size information, is available on the website.
In addition to making arrangements for landowners to pick up their seedling orders, the nursery does ship via United Parcel Service (UPS). Shipping and handling charges do apply. This is very efficient and most orders are received within 24 hours of shipment. All shipments will be processed by the end of the first week of May.
The Game Commission's Howard Nursery produces bare-root seedlings for wildlife food and cover on State Game Lands. Landowners who have 50 or more acres of land open to public hunting and are enrolled in one of the Commission's public access programs are eligible to receive up to 500 free seedlings annually, as available. Those cooperators with enrolled acreages exceeding 500 acres are eligible for one free seedling per acre enrolled up to a maximum of 10,000 seedlings annually, as available. Cooperators are provided an order form each fall for the following spring delivery. Free seedling orders are taken only in the fall through local Wildlife Conservation Officers (WCOs) and Wildlife Habitat Management personnel.
However, new this year, Pennsylvania landowners may purchase seedlings for wildlife food and cover, watershed protection, soil erosion control, and for reclamation of disturbed areas, such as surface mine sites and utility right-of-ways.
"The goal of the Howard Nursery is to provide the finest tree seedlings available of those species that best provide for the various needs of wildlife, including food and shelter," said Cliff Guindon, Howard Nursery superintendent. "All of our stock is inspected annually by the state Department of Agriculture and certified to be disease-free."
For more information, contact Cliff Guindon at the Howard Nursery, 197 Nursery Road, Howard, PA 16841, telephone (814) 355-4434. Hours of telephone operation are 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.