Tree Report Complete File Updated 101524

GETTING STARTED 1. Start Small: By starting small, you can experiment and learn. The goal is a beautiful, healthy, and wildlife-friendly yard with a diversity of native plants that bloom from spring to fall. 2. How to Buy: Find nurseries that sell native plants at jerseyyards.org/jersey-friendly-plants/where-to-buy-native-plants/ and npsnj.org/native-plants/where-to-buy-natives/. Use the full scientific name (Genus/species) to be sure you are getting the right plant, and confirm that the plants have not been treated with systemic pesticides. 3. Landscape Style: Native plants are well-suited to both formal and informal landscapes. They can be mixed with your favorite non-natives, but please remember that ideally our yards should be >70% native biomass (including native trees) to sustain pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. 4. For Easy Management: A. Select plants adapted to your site’s growing conditions. B. Build native plant layers: ground covers, flowers, shrubs, and trees. 5. Invasive Plants: Do not plant invasive species. They naturalize into our forests and outcompete the native plants required for ecosystem health. The NJ Invasive Species Strike Team’s DO NOT PLANT list identifies plants to avoid (fohvos.info/invasive-species-strike-team/info-center/) 6. Deer: Discourage deer by selecting plants they do not prefer and using barriers, e.g., fences, cages, or deer repellents. Note that “Deer Resistance” varies in different areas, and hungry deer will eat plants they normally avoid. 7. Pest Management: Avoid Chemicals. Synthetic and organic insecticides and herbicides kill everything on the label, including the “good guys” you want to protect! Diverse plantings naturally reduce pests. 8. Cultivar vs. Straight Species: A simple cultivar selected for size or hardiness can be fine, but a cultivar with a different leaf or flower color or structure may not support the pollinators that depend on the original native species (i.e., a fancy cultivar may be ecologically useless). 9. Winter Wildlife Garden: Minimize fall cleanup by leaving the leaves and stems with seed heads in your winter garden. Many important pollinators overwinter in the leaves and birds feed on the seed heads. In May, cut stems to about 12-18 inches so that native bees can use them for nesting. C. Use dense native plantings to build a “green mulch” that reduces weeds. “Landscape plugs”

d on the seed heads. In May, cut stems to about 12-18 inches so that native bees can use them for nesting. C. Use dense native plantings to build a “green mulch” that reduces weeds. “Landscape plugs” can make this fast and simple. D. Convert a patch of lawn – an easy way is to mow it short, cover with cardboard or several sheets of newspaper, wet it, and layer on 3 to 4 inches of composted mulch. After waiting 3 to 6 months, plant right through it. 10. Plant Native Trees: Big trees provide big benefits: they cool your house and neighborhood; manage stormwater; and “host” insects that birds and other wildlife depend on for food. Find the right tree for your location at jerseyyards.org/plant/. Sunny Moist Sample Design 12' Switch Grass 5 Foxglove Beardtongue 3 Mountain Mint 3 Showy Goldenrod 3 Black-Eyed Susan 3 New England Aster 3 Swam p Mi l k weed 3 Eastern B luestar 3 7' Purple Coneflower 3 Golden Alexander 3 Columbine 3 For more great information: Native Plant Society of New Jersey: npsnj.org Homegrown National Park: homegrownnationalpark.org/ National Wildlife Federation: nwf.org/NativePlantFinder Wild Ones: nativegardendesigns.wildones.org/ Pollinator Pathway: pollinator-pathway.org