Extending A Forest

Goldenrods are great, but our favorite projects are those that restore forests.

Trees and shrubs pack a way bigger punch than herbaceous plants. For example, according to the National Wildlife Federation, oaks support 521 pollinator species as compared to only 138 species supported by goldenrods. Trees also play an outsized role in providing habitat complexity, buffering stormwater, sequestering carbon, and facilitating below ground ecosystem health.

Here we extended the existing neighboring forest by planting trees and shrubs such as various oaks, American beech, arrowood, spicebush, and witch hazel. We topped it off with a handful of ferns, some heartleaf ginger, and white wood aster. This new garden packs a huge ecological punch and will be fairly neat and orderly.