By Joan Russell

Bastrop has earned the designation of “Tree City USA.” Tree City USA is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and out of 1,200 incorporated cities in Texas, Bastrop is one of 72 with this designation and that is thanks to the City of Bastrop Parks Department, and a lot of citizens who know the value of trees where we live and are dedicated to preserving healthy trees and increasing their numbers in Bastrop.

It hasn’t been easy to take care of trees the last few years of seemingly unending drought and heat and a lot of trees have died.  To replace these trees and add to the tree inventory, the Apache Foundation, the Bastrop Parks Department, the City of Bastrop Tree Committee, Texas Forest Service and Tree Folks in Austin are sponsoring a tree giveaway on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 9 a.m.  at the City of Bastrop Public Works Facility parking lot, 1209 Linden St.

These trees are in 5-gallon containers and will be given not only to residents of the city, but also to citizens of Bastrop County who have been affected by the wildfires last September.

Tree species will be Texas natives and include Bur Oak, Cedar Elm, Chinquapin oak, Eve’s necklace, White oak, Flame leaf sumac, Rough leaf dogwood, Texas persimmon and Texas Redbud.

The trees will need to be planted in the ground immediately.  Not all the trees will grow in the same kind of soil, some will need to be in alkaline soil or acid soil and some will grow in any type of soil.  If you live in an area where pine trees grow, your soil is more acid. If you live west of the Colorado River and there are no pine trees, chances are your soil is more alkaline.  Each family can receive three trees on a first come, first served basis.

There will also be bags of seed balls for families whose land has been burned.  These are the little marble sized clay balls that children and Master Naturalists in Williamson County made for the people of Bastrop County in the wake of the wildfires.  These seed balls need to be tossed out now.   Each seed ball contains about 10 seeds of various species of wildflowers and native grasses in a special mix for Bastrop County.  The seed balls are free, also.

I love thinking about all those large and tiny hands rolling clay with seeds in them into little balls and lovingly packaging them into paper sacks.  That is a picture that touches me deeply.

There will also be information about tree species, tree planting and tree care.  The Tree Planting Guide for Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette and Lee counties, produced by Pines and Prairies Land Trust will be available.  It is full of information about the various characteristics of 35 different species of trees that grow well in these Central Texas Counties.  The Land Trust is asking for a donation so the tree guides can be reprinted.