Order Trees or Shrubs for Spring Planting 2023
Our Lake Association is once again offering five FREE trees or shrubs to encourage shoreline and yard naturalization as a buffer between homes, lawns, and the lakes. As in the past, you can order any combination of five trees or shrubs from the list. Like in previous years, additional trees or shrubs can be ordered for $1.50 each; payment for any additional trees, shrubs, or plants must be made at the time your order is sent or placed online with a check to follow shortly.
Please email your order to Myles Wagner at 
(no order form necessary), or mail the order form below to Myles Wagner, 4074 Hawk Trail NW, Hackensack, MN 56452.
Orders must be placed by the first week of January. Pick up of the trees or shrubs will be in the spring at the Myles Wagner home at the above address (the blue, two-story house and garage near the old public access on Woman Lake off County Road 5). Orders can be picked up the first or second weekends in May from 9:00 AM until noon. You will be notified as a reminder of when your order can be picked up. Orders placed by email are easier to process, and email is an effective means for ongoing communications. If you do not have email, please be sure to include your name and phone number on the order form. If you prefer to order additional plants that are not on the order form, you can do so by going to the Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (CWSWCD) website at www.cwswcd.org – Native Plants section to see what else is available.
The CWSWCD offers a broader selection, but you need to order a bundle or kit. You can also send this order with payment to us, and we will include it in our order, which may then qualify for a discount. Most of the trees and shrubs are bare root and 8 to 24”in size.
Please call Myles Wagner at 763-767-6177, with any questions. We look forward to working with you. Due to availability of the plants during spring time from CWSWCD, there are times that we may need to substitute ordered plants with something similar. Please be understanding of circumstances beyond our control.
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Species Mature Height (ft) Soil Type Number Red Pine (Norway) 50 to 80 Sand/well drained ________ White Pine 80 to 100 Sand/Loam/Clay ________ White Cedar 40 to 50 Sand/Loam/Clay ________ Sugar Maple 50 to 65 Moist-Wet ________ Red-Splendor Crabapple 10 to 30 Dry-Wet ________ High Bush Cranberry 8 to 12 Dry-Wet ________ Serviceberry/Juneberry 6 to 9 Dry-Wet ________ Chokeberry (if available) 6 to 9 Any type of soil ________ False Indigo 6 to 9 Any well-drained soil ________ September 15, 2020 Bill Pilacinski
How does our lakeshore property pollute our lake?
My wife and I were in the Cities for the 14-16 August weekend. When we returned to our home on Woman Lake we found our rain gauge maxed at 5 inches. Others in the area said we actually got 7 inches! While this was good in that in returned our lakes to more normal water levels, the sudden downpour undoubtedly brought some significant shoreline erosion and pollution to our lakes. I took the opportunity to scout my property to see where the water went. With its load of pine needles, blades of lawn grass and other debris, it was easy to see where the water came from and where it went. From an erosion perspective, we are lucky because our shoreline has a significant ice ridge, which prevents water from draining directly into the lake. We had put in a small beach area a number of years ago and had made sure the rock barrier surrounding it was (per the county variance) at least 1 ft above the surrounding land surface to prevent direct drainage into the lake. After previous years’ downpours, I had noticed areas where water levels were threatening to drain directly into the lake. In one case, I dug a shallow depression in the lawn leading towards a swampy wetland at the far NW corner of our property; in the other, I built up a low part of the ice ridge to allow the water to soak through the soil rather than drain directly into the lake.
But why is it so bad for water and plant debris to flow directly into the lake?
Many of us from the “city” (where ever this may be) brag about how great it is to live, or spend our summers, in the “north woods”; yet, we try to replicate our suburban lawn here – lawn grass to our property edge and around the trunks of every tree; weed killer in the fertilizer (hopefully, at least phosphorus free); and our lawn mowers set low to give the appearance of a green carpet.
There are two kinds of “bad” in the water that gets into our lakes from our properties
- – first, soluble pollutants, and, second, pieces of mostly plant debris (large scale erosion that deposits rocks, sand and clay is a whole other issue that requires more than I can deal with here). Soluble pollutants are mostly nitrogen and phosphorus. These are the first two letters on a lawn fertilizer bag – N, for nitrogen, and P, for phosphorus. Lawn fertilizers for use near bodies of water should be phosphorus-free (P, the middle number, should be “0” on the bag), but the 10-10-10 (for N-P-K) fertilizer you may use in your flower or vegetable garden has quite a bit of phosphorus. The P that gets into the lake is mostly responsible for the green water, algae blooms we see in the lake and the N can contribute to lake weed growth. If water is allowed to seep through the soil, there are bacteria that can convert the N to forms that will not pollute; and the N and P in water that flows into swamps and wetlands can be taken up by plants that grow there rather than in our lake.
- Plant debris is another type of pollution. Consider a blade of grass. It is contains some of the fertilizer you put on your lawn and/or garden as well as natural sources of N and P. Grass is green because of chlorophyll, which is part of a large protein call Rubisco that is able to convert sunlight, CO2 gas from the air, and water to make more of itself. Most of the blade of grass is cellulose, but the Rubisco and other plant proteins contain the N from your fertilizer; and the P is part of the DNA that is in every plant cell. Even after the blade of grass is dead and dry, the N and P are still there. When it is washed into the lake, the N and P is released and becomes the pollution that produces algae blooms. But we’re not done with that blade of grass. Although the N and P may be gone, we still have the cellulose, and a bit of lignin, the same stuff that makes up the wood in trees. Although cellulose and lignin are biodegradable, it takes a long time for this to happen. What happens after the N, P, proteins, DNA and other easily biodegradable parts of the blade of grass is gone, is that the cellulose-lignin skeleton sinks to the bottom of our lake and becomes “muck”. I would welcome this in my vegetable garden (and do, indeed, till some of this “compost” into the soil every spring) but not so in my lake. I used to be able wade to the end of my dock, to almost 5 ft and still feel sand on my feet, but this is no longer the case. At a little over 3 ft, my feet start to sink into the buildup of millions of skeletons of grass, pine needles, leaves, tree branches, and of the lake weeds themselves.
Next time, I’ll talk about some of the things I am doing on my property to prevent soil erosion and lake pollution.
The shoreline, itself, is really the last line of defense and there are many things we can do to prevent pollution from even getting that far.
But before I go, I need to clarify something: I still have about 4,000 sq ft of “lawn” on my property. It may have quite a bit of clover (producing natural N), and few daisies (which I mow around so my grandkids can pick for bouquets for grandma), as well more creeping charlie, dandelions and plantain than I would like, but it is a healthy, and long, green and offers enough space for badminton, bean bag, lawn chairs, a picnic table and all the other things we enjoy with our family.