Annual tree sale sparking thoughts of spring in Armstrong County

Snow may be swirling outside, but the Armstrong Conservation District is focusing on spring by hosting its annual tree and seedling sale for people looking to create a wildlife habitat or windbreak, or who simply want to one day have some shade in their yard.

Agricultural science students at Lenape Technical School in Manor will play a big role in this year's sale, organizing fruit trees and seedlings to fill orders. The teenagers doing the work will be getting an education about a program they might remember when they were students in elementary school.

“This is our 42nd year doing this,” said Jessica Schaub, district agriculture technician. “And we always give a tree to every third-grader in the school district.”

Steve Misera, a natural resources technology instructor at Lenape, said that for the entire week leading up to the pickup date, it will be “all hands on deck” for his students as they set aside trees for customers and seedlings for all third graders in the Armstrong School District.

“A lot of my students remember getting the trees when they were in third grade but didn't realize at the time where they came from,” Misera said. “This gives them a direct connection and gives them the opportunity to work with plants.”

Certain seedlings — such as blue spruce, Norway spruce and white pine — are offered every year and tend to be good sellers, Schaub said. Most seedlings, which include arrowwood viburnum, chokecherry, English oak, northern bayberry and white flowering dogwood, cost $17 for a bundle of 25. Sweet crabapple and black walnut seedlings cost $20 per bundle.

The sale each year also includes fruit trees measuring 4 to 6 feet in height at the time of delivery. This year, new varieties offered include a yellow transparent apple, an Aztec Fuji apple, carene and redgold nectarines and a selection of peach and pear trees. Each fruit trees costs $17. Tree guards sell for $2; they help protect young trees from deer, rabbits and other small animals.

For more information about the sale or planting trees, call the conservation district office at 724-545-3628 or 724-548-3425.

“The question I get the most is about pollination and whether one or two of a certain variety are needed for that to happen,” Schaub said. “If I can't answer a question, I will find someone who will.”

Brigid Beatty is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-543-1303 or bbeatty@tribweb.com.