Forest Health

Spring is here, and there is no better time to get outside and plant new trees on your property or in your community. And opportunities to do so abound this time of year. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and many other environmental groups are hosting tree-planting events throughout the region to improve water quality, create wildlife habitat, clean the air and enhance climate resiliency for the watershed.

Resources for information about common invasive trees and shrubs in Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region.

Eastern hemlock is a coniferous tree that favors the cool and humid climate along the Appalachian Mountains. Hemlocks can grow more than 150 feet tall and live for more than 800 years. Their short, dense needles provide excellent habitat for many kinds of wildlife, from warblers to bobcats. Unfortunately, healthy hemlocks are becoming increasingly rare due to the invasive insect called hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). New efforts by the Virginia Dept. of Forestry are combatting this invasive bug with another bug.

Resources for information about common invasive insects in Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region.

The Princess Tree was imported from China in the 1800s and has become an aggressive, invasive plant in much of the mid-Atlantic and mid-South states.

The American beaver was almost hunted to extinction in Maryland and across the continent. Read about this nocturnal herbivore that scientists are helping to conserve, and that in return, are discovering the benefits of having beavers in a variety of ecosystems in need of help.

Registration for the spring session of "The Woods in Your Backyard" online course is now open. Our Regular features include the Woodland Wildlife Spotlight, Invasives in Your Woodland, our events calendar, and the Brain Tickler challenge.

In this issue, we look at bull thistle. It's a widespread invasive found throughout Maryland, where it has been declared a noxious weed.

In this issue, we look at plumeless thistle, also known as "spiny plumeless thistle." Its presence in Maryland might be more widespread than some reports suggest.

In this issue, we look at musk thistle, also known as "nodding thistle," one of four invasive thistles classified as a noxious weed by the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Each plant can spread over 100,000 seeds.