Last week on Craig'sList I came across a wonderful opportunity that is being repeated today. People in Gettysburg, PA, were selling young Canadian hemlocks, Nordmann firs, Douglas firs and Canaan firs, u-dig, under 24' $5, over 24' $10. By the time they were in the pots, you'd have spent $40-60 each for 'em at Behnke's. This is WELL worth the time to go there.

The sellers, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels ((Curt.Daniels@fcps.edu)) have been moving into a house in Gettysburg that had been owned by a retiree from a Christmas tree farm. This person had planted row upon row of small trees there, I suppose to do in a small way what he had been doing commercially. The Daniels do not need the young trees, so are selling them. The trees are in absolutely prime shape, trimmed and carefully cared for, most with single leaders.

The Daniels have emailed me that they will have another tree-selling day on Sat March 18th. If anyone is interested, CONTACT THEM FOR PERMISSION AND DIRECTIONS at the email above. It's highway all the way and Gettysburg is always fun.

A friend went up last Saturday and dug. He got twenty for himself and 6 for me (he lives on a BIG place in Brunswick MD, and I am replanting a woodlot.) He is seriously thinking of going back today if he gets the rest of the first batch planted. (How many of YOU try to live by the '5 Pot Rule' -- can't buy more until no more than 5 pots from the last binge are still above ground? It's the only reason my pot ghetto is no larger than it is!)

All these trees will get quite large -- 20 feet across, 60 to 70 feet tall, and they all prefer sun. They are not minis meant for a front yard, but will make a glorious deep green backdrop or privacy screen if you have the room. Or you can always keep them for 5 years and cut them as christmas trees when they get too big for your yard -- if you have the heart to. A web search showed the Canaan firs will take heat well, as well as clay soil and either dry or wet feet. When I asked Brookside Garden's Director of Woody Plants, he said that the Nordmanns are great for this area, though Dirr has doubts -- and who would you believe, the guy who works here or the expert from farther South?

My friend got six hemlocks, while I asked for none; I was concerned about woolly adelgids. My friend feels that their ability to cope with shade counterbalanced this drawback.

All these trees are in superb condition. I very much like the glossy, shiny LUSH deep green of the needles on the Nordmanns.And the Canaans are truly beautiful. I'd never seen them or the Nordmanns, that I'd noticed, before, and fell in love with both. The Canaans are a subspecies of fir from the Canaan Valley in WV. The Douglas firs turned out to be plain-Janes in this company, even though they too are solid respectable single-leader specimens. They just weren't as glossy or showy as the Nordmanns or the Canaans.


Lynn