Happy Spring everyone!  Our next quarterly gathering of the Metro Area Minnesota Women’s Woodland Network will be Tuesday, April 16, 2019 from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm at the Caribou Coffee in Maplewood, across from the Maplewood Mall (just south of I-694), 3100 White Bear Ave. N., Maplewood.   Please RSVP to Barb Spears via email or phone, 651-328-0463, if you can join us so we can be sure to have plenty of handouts for everyone.   

Let’s talk trees and shrubs!  With spring here, many of us are thinking about tree planting for restoration projects using conservation seedlings, or yard trees and shrubs for shade or accent, or perhaps for food for humans or our wildlife friends. 

Rebecca Koetter will be joining us to lead a conversation about fruit trees and shrubs.  Rebecca is a consultant with experience in selecting, pruning, harvesting and processing fruit from woody plants hardy to Minnesota. She is also experienced in designing yard landscapes for healthy and productive fruit-bearing trees, shrubs and plants. 

Metro Area MNWWN member Chris Soutter has consulted with Rebecca and shared this: "She is very knowledgeable and has been very helpful in my efforts to establish small fruits in my yard.  I have a small city backyard that is producing tart cherries, red currant, black currant, grape, honeyberry, blueberry and crabapples.  What I don’t harvest, the birds enjoy.  And these are terrific flowering plants for native pollinators.” 

Come with your questions, concerns, successes.  Also, please bring any catalogs or recommendations on where to purchase trees and shrubs or native plants. 

Agenda:

• 6:30 Introductions and sharing. What trees and shrubs are you planting this spring?

• 7:30 Fruit trees and shrubs and general tree planting/care

• 8:30 Wrap up