The Bellarmine Healthy Earth Team, in partnership with Xavier University's Tree Campus USA Initiative will be distributing tree saplings to parishioners of the Jesuit Parish Family, students, faculty, and staff as part of our Earth Day/Arbor Day celebrations on Sunday, April 21 after all the masses.
Since we have 28 species of trees and shrubs on offer, with a limited number of each, we encourage you to review the following documents before placing an order:
- Available Trees and Shrub List - You can find more information about the available species on this document. Summary information for each species is below.
- Tree Descriptions - For those who want to go deeper into each species. We have created a full page write up with photographs in this folder.
- The Right Tree in the Right Place - This document gives some considerations to help you identify the best tree for your yard.
You can learn more about the Vital Importance of Trees and about Trees and Laudato Si' on the linked handouts.
Important Notes:
- Plant availability is subject to change, depending upon the health of the supply. If the tree or shrub you order is not viable, we will contact you with other similar offerings.
- At present, we are offering one tree or shrub per household, except if you have multiple children in your home and want to get one plant per child. We are eager to see our children connected to nature as part of this initiative. If we end up with additional plants, we will let all who order know that they can order a second tree or shrub.
- All trees should fit in a standard vehicle, except where height concerns are indicated next to the species name.
- There are several opportunities to volunteer, including helping transport trees to cars or planting trees for your fellow community members. Please indicate below if you would be able to volunteer!
- Trees and shrubs are free to all. We will be collecting cash donations the day of the Giveaway to offset the costs of the project (estimated at $10/tree). You can also donate here today!
- If you are ordering as part of a partner organization, separate distribution times can be arranged.
Many thanks to our planning team: Tim Kloppenborg, Florence Niklewski, Karen McCabe, Tim Sundrup, Tim Severyn, Laurie Roche, Sarah Ranke, Dahlia Seibert, and Ella O'Maley for making this distribution possible!
Many thanks to arborist John McAllister who provided many of these at a discounted rate through Little Miami Landscape, LLC. If you want additional trees at a good rate, you can reach him at 513-519-5296.