In Celebration of Arbor Day (April 15th) and Earth Day (April 22nd) the Princeton Library will be adopting out 40 Red Oak trees.
These two-year-old, bare-root saplings were raised by the WI DNR, and are native to Wisconsin. They will come with planting and care instructions. Tree adoptions will be done on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limit of one per person.
Red Oaks (Quercus rubra) grow to be large trees, averaging 50-75 feet tall and wide, which live anywhere from 150 to 500 years old. The trees grow quickly, as much as two feet a year for the first 10 years. Adopters should plant them in areas that can accommodate this kind of growth and lifespan, with consideration to current structures and future construction.
Red oaks are low-maintenance trees which do well in our sandy soil. They have a beautiful bright red to blaze orange fall foliage.
Red Oaks also provide decent shade, acorns for wildlife (after 20 years of age), and food and habitat for pollinators. Juvenal's duskywing, banded hairstreak, Clymene moth, imperial moth, and the rosy maple moth are just a few of the dozens of pollinators that the red oak hosts.
The trees are schedule to arrive at the library in mid-April, and an announcement will be made to the public when this happens so that potential adopters can come in.