Our district recently partnered with the Mud Creek Conservancy District to plant 100 native trees at the Sargent Road Nature Park property recently acquired by the Conservancy District. More information about the park can be found at https://www.mudcreekconservancy.org/sargent-road-nature-park
The native tree saplings were provided by the DNR State Nursery in Vallonia through Senate Bill 690, which provides 100 free tree seedlings each year from DNR nurseries for distribution to public service organizations. The seedlings were kept in cold storage for several weeks prior to planting and included Red Oaks, Shagbark Hickory, Black Cherry and Grey Dogwood. We were lucky to connect with Senator Kyle Walker in District 31 to get the seedlings planted at the Sargent Road Nature Park on June 19th. Over 15 volunteers turned out to assist with the planting, including Senator Walker! Volunteers learned about proper planting techniques with tips provided by the DNR Nursery and Purdue Extension’s publication. While the best time to plant trees is in the Fall, we got plentiful rain in June and July to support these saplings, which will be watered in the future by Mud Creek Conservancy District volunteers. This project supports not only riparian habitat establishment at the park but is also a great contribution to efforts underway through the district’s update of the 2009 Lower Fall Creek Watershed Management Plan, as Mud Creek is a large tributary of Lower Fall Creek.
