I just noticed a post from the mayor about trees you can order now and have the city pay for. It appears that you can order more than one, but of course you would need the space. Below is the information from the mayor.
“In celebration of Arbor Day, we are promoting our Residential Street Tree Planting Program. Through the program, residents can apply to have a tree planted in their tree lawn at the expense of the property owner or City. Planting requirements and tree choices can be found on the application here: https://bit.ly/3eWOam0 We encourage all residents to care for our trees and woodlands and to support our city’s community forestry program.”
Margy Terpstra is nice enough to share this information with us from a talk she was scheduled to give, but which was canceled because of the Coronavirus.
Margy has one of the best native habitats for birds and wildlife in the St. Louis area. She posts pictures on a regular basis of birds which I have never seen and some which I have never heard of. Have you ever heard of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet or a Northern Parula? These are just a few of unusual birds which Margy documents on her blog.
Because of the Coronavirus, the April Beautify Crestwood meeting has been canceled.
We will make a decision on the May meeting at a later date.
Keep gardening in your yard and send in any pictures you’d like to show how you are Beautifying Crestwood. Send your pictures to beautifycrestwood@gmail.com.
Here is one of my favorite native perennials – Virginia Bluebells.
If your kids are home and you’re looking for an activity to not only keep them busy, but also learn about plants and nature – start your own seeds.
You can buy seeds for as little as $1.00/packet from DollarSeed.com or also find deals on Amazon.
Note – Whitecliff Recreation Center has free seeds for Crestwood residents.
If you prefer not to go to the store to get supplies, you can buy them from Amazon or just use with what you have around the house. I have used old yogurt containers for seeds, just punch in holes in the bottom for drainage. You may need some slow-release fertilizer like Osmocote, depending on the type of soil you have.
If it’s warm enough in your area of the country, you may be able to plant directly into the soil. In St. Louis, I usually wait until May 1st to plant.
Here is the process I use. The main point is to keep the seeds warm and moist so that they will germinate.
The Crestwood Beautification Committee wants to help Crestwood citizens make their neighborhoods more beautiful. We are offering to help neighborhood volunteers fund their projects.
If you would like to beautify the entrances or common areas or islands in your neighborhood, the Beautification Committee will assist you by paying 50% of the total costs up to a maximum of $500.00 per project. For example – if your total anticipated project cost is $400.00, you could receive $200.00 from the grant. If you have higher project costs expected, such as $1400.00 you would only receive the maximum grant amount of $500.00.
This grant program is not intended to be the sole source of funding for your project, rather it is to supplement other resources you have secured for the project. These resources might include raising funds through fundraising, in-kind donations or cash contributions.
Previous projects may apply again to help with replacement plants and supplies.
If you are interested, fill out an application. You don’t have to be a member of any committee to do this. All you have to do is organize some of your neighbors to contribute their effort to get the project done. This can be a way to make new friends or have some fun working together with old friends to improve your neighborhood (and its property value)!
In addition to the funding, The Beautification Committee will help you with getting started, designing the project and ideas for fundraising. However, the neighborhood volunteers will be in charge of their project. We encourage groups to use native plants if possible. https://www.moprairie.org/GrowNative
For all projects, the Beautification Committee must approve designs in order for neighborhoods to receive funds. Designs also must comply with city ordinances. (A list of city ordinances can be found on our website.)
Beautify Crestwood 9009 Parkshire Ct. Crestwood, MO 63126
Applications must be received by May 1, 2020. (This was extended to June 1st at the May committee meeting,) Only fully completed applications will be considered.
Grant recipients will be notified by May 12, 2020. (changed to …after the June committee meeting.)
In order to receive funds from the Beautification Committee, projects must be substantially completed by October 1, 2020
Please note that the Beautification Committee can commit to contributing only $2000.00 in total for all these Crestwood projects in 2020.
