This combination took place Monday at the Green Castle Recreation Area. It was one of several final stages of Phase One project to put a modern style campground area for recreational vehicles (campers).

Grading and land shaping took place earlier this year. Now with most infrastructure in place, the finer details can be put onto the land. This is where the trees and shrubs come into the story. In time these trees will grow to provide shade, color and an interesting contrast of beauty to the site.

Planting trees is not just a ‘Plug their roots into the ground and walk away’ thing to do. Special care must allow for the tree root ball to have room for its root system to expand. So the basic hole must be twice as wide or wider than the root ball. Holes were pre-dug by Consumer’s

Energy drill rigs to assist the workers and have each tree site pre-selected for the species of tree to be planted there. This saved an inordinate amount of time for the volunteers.

The hole cannot be too deep since the level of the original root ball must be close to the existing elevation of the land surface. Back filling the hole with loose soil and evenly compacting it a bit to support the root stock is needed. Mulch was added to surround the plant roots stock to help preserve moisture. And moisture will be provided initially by crews from the MCCB who will provide a water wagon or other vehicle with water tanks to give each new plant a good dose of that life-giving ingredient called water. Once a week, each plant will get the equivalent of one inch of rain. If Mother Nature brings rain on her own schedule, that will help.

Each new tree also received a heavy wire panel rolled into a circle to make a five foot diameter protective barrier from people, vehicles, and animals like deer, beaver or rabbits. An interior lining of chicken wire above the soil line has a tight enough weave to keep beaver or rabbits away from the tender tree trunk or branches. Green Castle Lake, a sixteen surface acre recreational fishing site, does have Iowa’s largest rodent, the beaver, occupying the lake water and hiding out in bank dens. Beavers moved into the lake on their own years ago from nearby waterway drainage of Brush Creek, Little Creek and South Timber Creek Camping amenities were a long term vision of the Marshall County Conservation Board (MCCB). However, it took a combination of funding from sources that were not originally anticipated. Step back in time to pre-COVID days, just for a second, to know that any funding source or sources are never easy to obtain, especially if the project itself has a price tag of $1,118,000.

The MCCB, a county government agency, was proactive in grant writing and ultimately successful in obtaining a Destination Iowa grant of $400,000. Now add in portions of monies Marshall County received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to make enough funding for campsite development at Green Castle. Phase One of the modern camping area is now much closer to completion.

Phase One of the camping site work created 14 new campsites with two paved sites specifically built for people with mobility issues. Electrical service and nearby water hookups are available so that camper units can plug into the grid of lighting, cooking, and other modern conveniences. Campgrounds will be open beginning in the spring of 2025.

A big thank you is in order to all the volunteer tree planters who brought shovels, hard working hands, gloves and lots of ambition to help beautify Green Castle.