Last Saturday many of us in the neighborhood were privileged to walk in the woods with the author of Pennsylvania Trees, Dr. Ann Rhoades. (I'll be posting a short video of Dr. Rhoades' talk in the weeks to come.) We identified native and non-native species and talked about the many issues of invasive plants. Non-native plants and trees on their own may not be harmful, but if they crowd out native species, they can harm wildlife by removing food and habitat. In Carpenter's Woods we are very aware of the incursions of Japanese Knotweed, Multiflora Rose, Garlic Mustard, Winged Euonymous, English Ivy, and Norway Maple.

We came away from her talk committed to planting oak trees in and around Carpenter's Woods in the coming years. (See part 2 of GROVE) The oak trees flower in early spring, drawing the migrant warblers that have made Carpenter's Woods a birding mecca for years. Now the old oaks are dying and new oaks must be planted and tended if we want the warblers to keep coming to our small but important stop on their migratory routes. If you are interested in joining our treeplanting efforts just use the e-mail link and I will add your name to our treetenders email lists.