S.C.C. is a Tree Campus USA!

S.C.C. Trees Photo Courtesy: S.C.C.

The S.C.C. Tree Advisory Committee has just received verification that S.C.C. is now a certified Tree Campus USA through the National Arbor Day foundation!

This is great news to us as the college community has always taken great pride in urban forestry and understood and respected and importance of healthy trees on campus. Many years of hard work, and lots of hard work of the committee members, and partnerships with organizations such as the Missouri Community Forestry Council, have finally paid off!

How many trees are on our nearly three hundred acre campus? Over two thousand trees! These trees are essential to carbon intake, soil stabilization, water filtering, and energy savings! Understanding the importance of trees on our environment and our future is of the utmost importance.

This is just another step in the right direction and yet another addition to our green initiative. Keep an eye out because there will be some arbor day events coming up in April, and with spring right around the corner, the trees are about to make their annual debut as the leaves and flowers emerge. Congratulations to the Committee and to the college community as a whole.

St Charles Community College Tree Campus U.S.A. 2011!

warm rush...

Students enjoying a spring day. Photo courtesy SCC.

I noticed the past weekend I was not the only one enjoying the nice weather. Everywhere I went there was loads of others enjoying the outside air with me. Then, as I pulled up to my house, I realized how much work there is to be done. It is time to take advantage of these warm temperatures for some yard work!

Tree pruning is a big one. Trees are best pruned while they are dormant, and we are coming to the end of that period. If you have any tree pruning to be done, now is the time. Also, removing dead wood and broken branches now will make your yard safer in the spring. If you have any large trees or large pruning jobs remember to be sure you hire a certified arborist to complete the work to ensure it is done in a safe and correct manner! If you need to find a certified arborist in your area be sure to check out TreesAreGood.com

Ornamental Grasses in Late Spring. Photo Courtesy of SCC.

Another item to work on is your ornamental grasses and other perennials. It is a good idea to cut your ornamental grasses down to a few inches now, because they start sending up new growth as early as March! Also perennials that need cleaning up before they begin their spring growth could be cleaned up now if you haven't already done so in the fall.

I also noticed my neighbor still has a lot of leaves in their yard. Leaves are a perfect breeding ground for voles and insects. Mulching those leaves with a mower now will not only make it cleaner and easier for a spring green-up, but will also provide some nutrients to your yard and garden throughout the year.

Getting a head start on your yard and gardens now will really make the effort less daunting when everything starts to green up and get ahead of us! It is also a great excuse to get outside and enjoy some fresh, warm air for a change! Come on spring!

Snow Safety...

It has been a rough couple of weeks for us down here in the Campus Services building, many broken shovels and sore backs to go around. Snow removal is a business we take very seriously, and everything in our lives gets put on hold, thus the lack of posts to my blog.

Typically when schools and colleges are canceled due to inclement weather, and everyone enjoys their snow day, we are on our way to the college in the heat of the storm to begin removing it. Our snow days involve countless hours of back breaking work, often into the dark hours of the morning, to have campus open the following day. We have a lot of experience driving in the snow. When driving in the snow take it slow, and if possible, stay off the roads until they are cleared. I consider myself a decent driver in the snow but am often passed by cars on the highway, and I am certain I will see them again, in a ditch. Also, keep a blanket in your car just in case you are stranded somewhere, and always have an ICE contact in your phone. (ICE: In Case Of Emergency.) Rescue personnel know to look for ICE in your cell phone contacts in case of an emergency.

I was also thinking, with the amount of snow we had this year being such a surprise to many, evident by the grocery store shelves. Are we really prepared if we were to get enough snow and ice that we were trapped in our homes, with no electricity? Am I prepared? I recently had some red cross CPR training, and the instructor informed me I should have one gallon of water per consumer for seven days. That's my wife, my dog, our cat, and I, twenty eight gallons of water. If we were stuck in our house for seven days, we are ill prepared. My only saving grace is we have a gas fireplace in the case were the electricity would be out, but in an earthquake it would not be suitable.

I hate the fact my returning post is so serious but I think it is my duty to think about these situations, and our duty to talk with one another about them. Just maybe a life will be saved because we did the easiest thing of all, talked to one another. See you next week with a more upbeat post, I promise!