More than 5,000 individual plants will be available for area residents during the 27th TreeFest in Wilmington.
Scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17, and Saturday, Jan. 18, at Independence Mall inside the JC Penney corridor, hours for both days are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and only while supplies last.
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Editor’s emphasis: “only while supplies last.” That means you snooze, you lose. Coastal Review assumes no responsibility for ornery latecomers, nor will we respond to complainers’ vile nastygrams.
Grown by the North Carolina Forest Service Nursery in Goldsboro, tree species for this event include longleaf pine, Atlantic white cedar, eastern red cedar, red maple, river birch, American persimmon, flowering dogwood, eastern redbud, live oak, and white oak. Silky dogwood and Indian grass will also be available.
Households can select up to five trees or grasses from the available selection for free on a first-come, first-serve basis. Organizers said a $5 donation per household is suggested and greatly appreciated.
TreeFest is coordinated by the volunteer-based TreeFest Committee and sponsors, including Wilmington, Friends of Wilmington Skateparks, Independence Mall, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, North Carolina Forest Service, New Hanover County Soil and Water Conservation District, and University of North Carolina Wilmington’s departments of environmental sciences, and biology and marine biology.
“Trees offer many benefits to our community, from flood protection and improving water and air quality, to creating shade and oxygen, to providing food and nesting sites for birds and wildlife,” TreeFest Committee Member Amy Mead said in a release. “By making sure we have a robust tree canopy, we can help our community be more resilient to the impacts of weather.”
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Experts will be on hand during TreeFest to help with plant selection and care. Organizers suggest that residents consider the size of the site, whether utility lines exist above and below ground, the proximity to buildings, and site conditions like soil type, drainage and sun exposure.
The TreeFest committee asks visitors to bring their own nonleaking bag or bucket to take home their bare-root seedlings in an effort to reduce single-use plastic waste.
Trees are bare root and should be planted as soon as possible.
TreeFest began in 1997 after hurricanes Bertha and Fran decimated tree populations in the Wilmington area. Since then, more than 150,000 tree seedlings and grasses have been given to residents.
