Washtenaw County Spring 2020 Tree & Shrub Distribution Cancelled

by Megan DeLeeuw

The Washtenaw County Conservation District (WCCD) Spring Tree & Shrub Distribution originally scheduled for April 17th & 18th is cancelled. The Board of Directors made this difficult decision in order to reduce risk and adverse impacts on customers, staff, volunteers and tree nurseries in light of increasing local, State and Federal restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board does not take this lightly and is the first time in over 40 years that a tree sale has been cancelled. All 500+ customers who have pre-ordered trees and shrubs will be receiving a refund within the next month.

• If you purchased trees and shrubs on our website with credit card, you will receive a refund on that same card and a notification to your email. Check your spam box if you do not see the email in your inbox. Credit card refunds take 5-7 days to process and show up on your statement.
• If you purchased trees and shrubs with a check, we will send you a refund in the mail by the end of April. They will be sent to you as soon as possible. 

The exception to the cancellation is all fruit tree orders. Our fruit tree nursery (VanWell) is out of Washington State and has already sent their trees to our Michigan-based broker over a week ago where they currently are held in cold storage. We will contact you separately  regarding fruit trees if you ordered some.

Currently plans have not changed to proceed with the Native Plant Expo & Marketplace (as well as native plant distribution) on May 30th. The Board will be closely monitoring the situation and will update customers if anything changes in regards to native plants. Our back up plan will be to distribute pre-ordered native plants in October during our Fall Tree Distribution if  it is not safe to proceed on May 30th. 

The WCCD currently relies on distributions for nearly 50 percent of our revenue. Officials ask if people are in a financial position to do so, to please consider donating a portion of your purchase back to the district. Please contact Megan at megan.deleeuw@macd.org or 734.718.5506 if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation. The WCCD can also accept donations directly on their website: www.washtenawcd.org.

Please note:

Due to public health recommendations, the WCCD staff will be working remotely for the next three weeks. Please have patience with us as we work to address your questions. Please submit any native plant orders by mail or directly on our website with credit card. 

The best way to reach the District Manager, Megan DeLeeuw, is by e-mail (megan.deleeuw@macd.org) and 734.718.5506 (cell)