Tallamy

Contributed by Carol Herwig Chair, Tree Working (TWiG) Committee Doug Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home has become a standard text for American gardeners, especially along the Atlantic Coast. One of the takeaways from it is the importance of the oak tree. Tallamy cites a 2003 study in Illinois that found that “a single white oak can provide food and shelter for as many as 22 species of tiny leaf-tying and leaf-folding caterpillars,” not to mention the butterflies, moths, birds, bugs and beetles that depend on it. The oak is a cornerstone for our biome. But as arborist and author William Bryant…