Welcome

Submitted by Tokina McHarry, James River SCD District Business/Education Manager

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In a matter of two quick weeks, thousands of trees were planted around Dickey County. For the most part, our planting went well. Now fabric will be installed at the planting sites. Please, if you planted trees this year – whether by hand or by machine – water weekly at a minimum! The hot dry weather greatly stresses new trees and can easily lead to tree death out without proper care.

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Do not be tempted to fertilize new trees. Trees provided by Soil Conservation Districts are specifically grown in this region so that survivability is best. They are seed-sourced as locally as possible, which also increases hardiness of seedlings. Fertilizing can “burn” young tree roots that are not accustomed to the excess nutrients.

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This year, we have had a record number of calls requesting trees and/or tree plantings well after our schedule was filled. A friendly reminder – please order the fall before! And if you are looking at our crew planting for you, we must know the fall before. This not only helps us out with planning and ordering, but cost-share deadlines often run a year before the actual planting. Also, the SCD only plants trees in the spring.

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Planning ahead also allows us to assist with selecting trees most suitable for your site. We always start with a soils map. It is strange to think – but soils vary all over the county. So if you have had a hard time getting trees to grow in an area in the past, it definitely could be a soil issue. Sometimes the issue can be resolved by just changing species of tree. Other times, if soils are not suited, it’s very likely trees will not grow well there period. One cannot “change” their soil type in a location by amending it with different substances. Soil types are based on the parent material deep underground.

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Upcoming projects this summer include another round of Nights at the Nursery – dates are yet to be determined but watch for upcoming details. We look forward to greeting new and familiar faces to tour the property with you. We have a few projects we have been working on to show off! We will also be offering our Nature Explore Days in August, EcoEd in September, as well as the Grazing Logic event scheduled for September 3. Of course, we also will hold events as requested – if you have a group interested in something, reach out and see if we can assist!

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Last but not least, have you checked out the Less Lawn More Life challenge? We have been promoting it on our Facebook page. This is a free 12-week event, where participants are given “mini challenges” each week, with the result being creating a small area of native plants in your yard. Again, it’s free. Just enter your email. And it’s one email per week. You can start anytime and catch up to the current week. Most challenges have a short video, just a few minutes long, and that it! It’s easy, fun, and very informative. We highly recommend it.

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Upcoming Dates:

June 10, 2026 - SCD Board Meeting, 9 am, Ellendale Service Center

June 19, 2026 – Office Closed, Juneteenth

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For more information contact the James River Soil Conservation District and Ellendale NRCS office at 349-3653, ext. 3. Our field office is in Ellendale at 51 N. 1st Street. Also, remember to visit the James River Soil Conservation District Facebook page and our websites for more information –http://www.jamesriverscd.org/ and http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/nd/home/. The NRCS is an equal opportunity employer, provider and lender.