Helpful Tips

The links on this page offer advice about trees and planting, mulching, trimming and identifying them. We’ve also included a kid’s section.

Links

21 Reasons Why Forests Are Important: Here are a few reasons why woodlands are important, from Treehugger: sustainability for all

How to Plant a Tree: Get instructions based on the kind of tree you’re going to plant. Look at the root configuration to determine the best planting process. Click here to enter Arbor Day Foundation.  According to the Foundation:

• • More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon rain forest.
  • More than 180 million Americans receive quality drinking water from forested watersheds.
  • Surfaces shaded by trees may be 20-45 degree F cooler than the peak temperatures of unshaded areas.
  • One large tree can provide a day’s supply of oxygen for up to 4 people. 

Marylanders Plant Trees: Planting the Right Tree, in the Right Place, for the Right Reason and in the Right Way will be good for you, the tree, and for Maryland. Click on Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Graphic ©Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Pruning Trees: The objective of pruning is to produce strong, healthy, attractive plants. By understanding how, when and why to prune, and by following a few simple principles, this objective can be achieved. Click here to download a publication from Treesearch: U.S. Forest Service

Native Forest Insects and Diseases: Click here to enter the U.S. Forest Service’s extensive website regarding this topic.

Exotic Pest Threats: PDF Handout from the University of Maryland Extension: Click on this link.

Hardwood Cutting for Shrub & Tree Propagation: Click here to enter the Clemson Cooperative Extension.

 

Other sites of Interest

Image of bee, Hampton Mansion Gardens, Oct- 2020 by Vic Sanborn

Beekeeping: NAPPC National Beekeeper Survey of the Foraging Needs of Bee Colonies: The Forage, Nutrition & Roadsides Task Force is a working group of North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) partners tasked with supporting the development of increased acres of bee forage in key regions, working to increase access to existing potential forage for beekeepers and developing guidelines for regional seed mixes that can be used by Departments/Ministries of Transportation to effectively promote key pollinators along roadsides. Click here to enter the site. 

Biotechnology forestry revival projects now include elms along with American chestnuts, A. Potterfield, June, 2020: Genetic Literacy Project.

Thirty Important Forest Trees of Maryland, Maryland State Board of Forestry, 1922. This short illustrated one-hundred year old book can be found at this link from the Internet Archive. It’s a fun way to learn from our ancestors.

Video from the National Science Foundation: Baltimore, Maryland is a major city situated on the Chesapeake Bay- a sprawling 64,000 square mile watershed. Currently, the Chesapeake is facing an environmental crisis due to pollutants. Scientist Claire Welty of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County is monitoring the travel times of pollutants in the urban streams in and around Baltimore. Through her research, she hopes to gain an understanding of the urban water cycle, and how municipalities can better prevent pollutants from contaminating the greater watershed.

 

 

For Kids

 

Connecting Kids to Nature from forests.org: Sustainable Forestry Initiative

Forest Stewardship: Teaching Youth About Forest Stewardship, Penn State Extension. 

Tree Facts for Kids: Click here to enter this informative encyclopedic site

Tree Activities for Preschool Kids from Fantastic Fun and Learning