This linear grove of mature trees, many of them nearly one hundred years old, is comprised of a mix of native White Oaks (Quercus alba) and Swamp White Oaks (Quercus bicolor).
Imagine a planting like this along that section of stream you’re mowing or grazing right now. The Swamp White Oak in particular thrives in wet soils and is available now for just a couple of bucks per tree from several of the lower Susquehanna’s County Conservation District Tree Sales. These and other trees and shrubs planted along creeks and rivers to create a riparian buffer help reduce sediment and nutrient pollution. In addition, these vegetated borders protect against soil erosion, they provide shade to otherwise sun-scorched waters, and they provide essential wildlife habitat. What’s not to love?
Autumn leaf of a Swamp White Oak
The following native species make great companions for Swamp White Oaks in a lowland setting and are available at bargain prices from one or more of the County Conservation District Tree Sales now underway…
The Red Maple is an ideal tree for a stream buffer project. They do so well that you should limit them to 10% or less of the plants in your project so that they don’t overwhelm slower-growing species.The River Birch (Betula nigra) is a multi-trunked tree of lowlands. Large specimens with arching trunks help shade waterways and provide a source of falling insects for surface-feeding fish. Its peeling bark is a distinctive feature.The Common Winterberry with its showy red winter-time fruit is a slow-growing shrub of wet soils. Only female specimens of this deciduous holly produce berries, so you need to plant a bunch to make sure you have both genders for successful pollination.An American Robin feeding on Common Winterberry.Common Spicebush is a shrub of moist lowland soils. It is the host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly and produces small red berries for birds and other wildlife. Plant it widely among taller trees to provide native vegetation in the understory of your forest.Common Spicebush foliage and berries in the shade beneath a canopy of tall trees.The Common Pawpaw a small shade-loving tree of the forest understory.Common Pawpaw is a colony-forming small tree which produces a fleshy fruit. It is the host plant for the caterpillars of the Zebra Swallowtail.The Buttonbush is a shrub of wet soils. It produces a round flower cluster, followed by this globular seed cluster.And don’t forget the Eastern Sycamore, the giant of the lowlands. At maturity, the white-and-tan-colored bark on massive specimens makes them a spectacular sight along stream courses and river shores. Birds ranging from owls, eagles, and herons to smaller species including the Yellow-throated Warbler rely upon them for nesting sites.Yellow-crowned Night Herons, an endangered species in Pennsylvania, nesting in an Eastern Sycamore.
So don’t mow, do something positive and plant a buffer!
Act now to order your plants because deadlines are approaching fast. For links to the County Conservation District Tree Sales in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, see our February 18th post.
County Conservation District Tree Sales are underway throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Now is the time to order for pickup in April. The prices are a bargain and the selection is fabulous. For species descriptions and more details, visit each tree sale web page (click the sale name highlighted in blue). And don’t forget to order bundles of evergreens for planting in mixed clumps and groves to provide winter shelter and summertime nesting sites for our local birds. They’re only $12.00 for a bundle of 10—can’t beat that deal!
Pickup on: Thursday, April 20, 2023 or Friday, April 21, 2023
Don’t mow it. Plant a meadow or pollinator garden instead.Both Cumberland and Perry Counties are offering a native warm-season grass and wildflower seed mix for planting your own meadow or pollinator garden. Perry County is also taking orders for a seed mix specifically formulated to grow plants for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
Pickup on: Thursday, April 20, 2023 or Friday, April 21, 2023
The Eastern Hemlock, Pennsylvania’s official state tree, is an excellent choice for addition to your landscape or reforestation project. It tolerates rocky soils and its cones are an excellent source of food for birds ranging from chickadees to finches.
The handsome yet underused Northern Red Oak is a sturdy long-lived native tree that is ideal for street-side, lawn, and reforestation plantings. In spring, it can be a magnet for migrating Neotropical birds when its flowers attract a wide variety of tiny insects to its upper reaches. Unlike many other oaks, this species is a relatively fast grower.
In autumn, even after the bright red foliage is gone, the berries of mature Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) trees attract a wide variety of birds like this Pileated Woodpecker. The Lebanon County Conservation District is offering Black Gum, also known as Black Tupelo, during their 2023 tree sale. Why not order and plant a half dozen or more?
The Perry County Conservation District is not only offering plants during this year’s sale, you can also purchase bluebird nest boxes for just $12.00 each!For less than the cost of one year of mowing, this stream corridor in Conewago Township, Dauphin County was reforested by the owner with hundreds of native trees, the majority purchased through County Conservation District Tree Sale events spanning a period of several years. By replacing bare soil and mowed areas, the riparian buffer created by these plantings has significantly reduced the nutrient and sediment loads that were polluting the small stream therein known as Brill’s Run. With determination and not a lot of money, you can do it too.But don’t forget the Eastern White Pines!
The harmless, herbivorous Northern Walkingstick (Diapheromera femorata), also known as the Common Walkingstick, is well camouflaged when among the twigs and stems of deciduous trees. As foliage drops in autumn, these wingless insects often descend to ground level and sometimes venture into view. This individual was found in the vicinity of ideal habitat: a portion of forest including Black Cherry and Black Oak (Quercus velutina) trees. Juvenile Northern Walkingsticks feed on the leaves of the former, adults on those of the latter.
A small butterfly with flights extending into October, the Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) is an easily overlooked inhabitant of forest clearings in the vicinity of oaks, particularly Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), a favorite larval foodplant.
Following a heavy nocturnal flight, an observer can often see Neotropical migrants in unusual places. For arboreal species looking to rest and feed after a long night of flying, large native trees in almost any location can be attractive. This Scarlet Tanager was found not in its typical habitat, a deciduous forest, but in an enormous Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) surrounded by manicured lawn.
The Blackburnian Warbler, a Neotropical migrant, feeds high in the canopy of mature forests during stopovers in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, so you need to look up to find one. This male was seen searching for insects along the branches of an American Beech (Fagus grandifolia).
A juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker surveys the morning landscape. In the lower Susquehanna watershed, Red-headed Woodpeckers are an uncommon summer breeder requiring large dead oak trees in semi-open habitat for nesting. They can occasionally be found during winter in mature oak woods, appearing most frequently west of the river at places including Gifford Pinchot State Park. Fall migrants are seen along local ridges in September and October.
With autumn coming to a close, let’s have a look at some of the fascinating insects (and a spider) that put on a show during some mild afternoons in the late months of 2019.
Bush Katydids (Scudderia species) are found in brushy habitats and along rural roadsides. Their green summer color fades to brown, maroon, and gold to match the autumn foliage where they hide. Bush katydids often remain active until a hard freeze finally does them in.The Eastern Buck Moth (Hemileuca maia) is fuzzy, appearing to wear a warm coat for its autumn expeditions. Adults emerge in October and may fly as late as December. Females deposit their eggs on the twigs of Bear Oak (Quercus ilicifolia), Blackjack Oak (Q. marilandica), or Chestnut Oak (Q. montana), trees that, in our region, seem most favorable for the moth’s use when growing on burned barrens and mountain slopes. The spiny caterpillars are known to feed only on the foliage of these few trees. In the lower Susquehanna valley, the Eastern Buck Moth is rare because its specialized habitat is in short supply, and it’s all Smokey The Bear’s fault.The Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) wanders north from the Atlantic Coastal Plain into the Susquehanna valley each summer. In some years they become the most numerous small orange butterfly of all, particularly around home gardens. The larvae will feed on Crabgrass (Digitaria species), but have not found success overwintering this far north. By November, adults begin to look pretty drab.From 1978 through 1982, the Asian Multicolored Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis) was introduced into the eastern states by the United States Department of Agriculture. It has become a nuisance in many areas where it swarms, sometimes bites, and often overwinters in large smelly masses within homes and other warm buildings. As you may have guessed, it’s possibly displacing some of the less aggressive native lady beetle species.On a chilly afternoon, a sun-warmed Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) pounced and dispatched this sluggish worker Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) that was trying to gather pollen from a late-season Purple Coneflower bloom. This spider is bold indeed.Under bridges, inside bird nest boxes, and sometimes beneath porches, the female Pipe Organ Mud Dauber (Trypoxylon politum), a predatory wasp, builds these elaborate nests composed of long rows (pipes) of nursery cells. Into each cell one or more paralyzed spiders is deposited along with one of the female’s eggs. When hatched, each larva will feed upon the paralyzed spider(s) inside its cell, then pupate. The pupae overwinter, then emerge from their cells as adults during the following spring. In the autumn, males often stand guard at an entrance to the nest (look at the fifth pipe from the right) to prevent parasitic species, including some flies, from laying eggs on the pupae. These wasps are not aggressive toward humans.A Pipe Organ Mud Dauber (right) observes a neighboring nest of Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans). This latter species, a native of the southern United States, is currently expanding its range into the lower Susquehanna valley from the Atlantic Coastal Plain. These two wasps are known to regularly coexist. Both will take advantage of man-made structures for their nest sites. People using the picnic tables beneath this pavilion roof never noticed the hundreds of docile wasps above.Those moody Eastern Yellowjackets (Vespula maculifrons) can get very temperamental during warm autumn days. These wasps may appear to have no enemies, but away from areas impacted by man’s everyday activities, they do. The Robber Fly (Promachus species) hunts like a flycatcher or other woodland bird, waiting on a perch along the forest’s edge for prey to pass by, then ambushing it, yellowjackets included.The invasive Spotted Lanternfly, a native of eastern Asia, continues to spread destruction. It established itself throughout much of the east side of the lower Susquehanna River during the summer and fall of 2019. Their route of travel across the farmlands of the region intersects with plenty of vineyards to obliterate and few, if any, natural enemies. Expect them to begin colonizing the west shore en masse during 2020.In 2020, plan to roll a few Spotted Lanternflies over, enjoy the view, and wait for the crimson tide to pass. With any luck, they’ll peak in a year or two.
SOURCES
Eaton, Eric R., and Kenn Kaufman. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY.
