The annual tree seedling sale conducted by the Clark County Farm Forestry Association is set for Saturday, March 21, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Albertson's parking lot, 2108 W. Main St., Battle Ground.
The sale is slated to continue until 11 a.m. but will end sooner if all trees are sold.
Trees in this year's sale will be priced at $2 to $4 and will range from 6 inches to 3 feet tall.
Popular western red cedar 6-12 inches tall, and Douglas fir trees 18 inches tall, will be priced at $2 each.
Other $2 varieties will be Noble fir, Scotch pine, Shore pine, Norway spruce, western hemlock and Sitka spruce.
Incense cedar measuring 9 inches tall and up, grand fir, ponderosa pine, coast redwood and giant sequoia will be priced at $3 each.
Trojan fir about 3 feet tall will be priced at $4. Trojan fir, a tree native to the mountains of northwest Turkey, is undergoing trials in the United States. Trojan fir is a popular Christmas tree in Europe. It is slow growing to about 100 feet tall with a narrow spread. It prefers moist, acidic, well-drained, rich soil.
Trojan fir seeds collected in Turkey are grown for two years at a nursery in Roy, Washington. The trees will be evaluated when the trial ends in 2031.
Other trees priced at $4 will be Deodar cedar and Port Orford cedar.
Deciduous trees offered in the March 21 sale will be Oregon ash, Pacific willow, red osier, dogwood, vine maple, big leaf maple and cascara.
Other plants for sale will include red flowering currant, Douglas spirea, Oregon grape, twinberry and salal, all priced $2 to $3.
Douglas fir trees are considered fast growing and can reach 200 feet in height. They prefer full sun. Western red cedar are slow growing but can also reach 200 feet in height in full sun or partial shade.
Most trees at the annual sale will be bare root and most are native to the Pacific Northwest.
Members of the Master Gardener program of Washington State University will be on hand to answer questions about planting and caring for trees.
The Farm Forestry Association recommends that trees be planted as soon as possible. Trees should be stored in a cool, shady place with roots kept wet until planting. The planting hole should be deep enough so that the roots do not curl in the hole. The soil should be packed firmly around the roots to avoid air pockets. It is not necessary to fertilize the newly-planted seedlings during the first year but the planting area should be kept weed and grass free for two to three years.
The sale last year began at 7:45 a.m. rather than 8 a.m. with a few hundred people in line. The sale ended at 11 a.m., according to sale chairman Gene Jones. About 11,000 trees and shrubs were sold, which was more than the prior two years.
Jones said more Douglas fir trees were sold than any other species, followed by Western red cedar. The available quantity of Trojan fir sold out in the first half hour, said Jones.
The sale will be conducted as cash, check or credit card.
Net proceeds from last year’s sale were about $11,500 and will be used for scholarships and donations to forestry-oriented projects.
The Clark County Farm Forestry Association is an organization of tree farmers with over 250 members who own about 20,000 acres of timber land.
In addition to the public tree sale, members of the association purchase seedlings annually for planting on their own properties. Last year, Association members planted over 64,000 trees on their own lands, mostly Douglas fir.
“The bottom line,” said Jones, “is that the tree farmers moved nearly 74,000 trees into the county last year.”
The Clark County Farm Forestry Association has conducted a spring tree sale since 1968 at various locations in the county. The sale has been held exclusively in Battle Ground for the past 22 years.
“As always, I give a ton of credit to the way our members volunteer to make the sale a success,” said Jones. “There is so much that just happens and I don’t have to lift a finger. People just step up and do it. We get those long lines early in the morning rain or shine.”
Jones expressed gratitude to Albertson’s for use of their parking lot.
“We make a big point of leaving the Albertson’s parking lot as clean as we found it,” said Jones, “since they are so nice about letting us use it, put sandwich (sign) boards out, and park a pickup with a sign on it in their lot.”
“I’m proud to be involved in an activity for the community that brings out so much team effort and volunteerism,” said Jones. “It’s really a ‘git ‘er done’ crowd. And that includes the Master Gardeners and the 30 or so Association members” who conduct the sale.
More information about the tree sale is available by calling Gene Jones, 360-263-3168, or Bob Brink, 360-686-3524.
