Buy Native Trees, Shrubs from MDC State Forest Nursery
Buy Native Trees, Shrubs from MDC State Forest Nursery
Order are being taken now through April 2021. Supplies are limited so order early.
Need trees and shrubs for your landscape? Go native with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). Native trees and shrubs can help improve wildlife habitat and soil and water conservation while also improving the appearance and value of private property.
MDC’s George O. White State Forest Nursery near Licking offers a variety of low-cost native tree and shrub seedlings for reforestation, windbreaks, erosion control, wildlife food and cover, and other purposes. The nursery provides mainly one-year-old, bare-root seedlings with sizes varying by species.
Seedlings varieties include pine, bald cypress, cottonwood, black walnut, hickory, oak, pecan, persimmon, river birch, maple, willow, sycamore, blackberry, beautyberry, buttonbush, deciduous holly, hazelnut, redbud, ninebark, spicebush, elderberry, sumac, wild plum, witch hazel, and others.
Seedlings are available in bundles of 10 or increments of 25 per species. Prices range from 22 – 90 cents per seedling. Sales tax of 6.1 percent will be added to orders unless tax exempt. There is an $8 handling charge for each order. Receive a 15 percent discount up to $20 off seedling orders with a Heritage Card, Permit Card, or Conservation ID Number.
The nursery grows millions of seedlings each year, but some species are very popular and sell out quickly. Occasionally, the seedlings succumb to uncooperative weather or hungry wildlife, despite the nursery staff’s best efforts.
“We had some late season cold weather this year, with nighttime lows in the 20s. Staff stayed up several nights in a row, running the irrigation to keep the plants from freezing, but we still lost some. The hardest hit was a popular choice, the flowering dogwood,” said MDC Nursery Supervisor Mike Fiaoni. “I would encourage people not to wait when placing their orders.”
Fiaoni said that even if a species is listed as sold out, customers can still place an order for them. Sometimes orders get cancelled, freeing up inventory. Customers won’t be charged for seedlings unless they are available to ship.
