"LET'S PLANT NATIVE TREES"

Our April 17, 2025 speaker was Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary member, Taylor Breinich, a certified arborist, and also a member of MSR’s Green Team. Taylor’s presentation focused on why native trees are essential to our planet’s regional ecosystems. She discussed the importance of native trees in the community and area landscape, explaining the difference between native and invasive species, highlighting their negative impact. Taylor emphasized the benefits of native species, such as sugar maples, red mulberries, and staghorn sumac, which provide food and shelter for various animals. She also discussed the importance of native species in supporting pollinators and storing greenhouse gases, listing common alien species and suggesting various native species that can be incorporated into our landscapes.

So why plant native?

• Native trees and shrubs are low maintenance. They have evolved in their respective regions and require less care for their survival, such as watering, which conserves water.

• Because they are native to their ecosystem, they are part of the food web and support wildlife biodiversity.

• Non-native trees, which can also be ‘invasive’ to natural environments, serve very little ecological value in-particular as a food source. Invasive tree species can ‘crowd out’ native species, thus making it more difficult for an ecosystem to recover from centuries of human impact.

Taylor, courtesy of Bartlett Tree Experts, offered members "bare root" saplings from four species of native trees to plant on our properties. Thank you to Taylor, Bartlett Tree Experts, and the MSR Green Team for promoting Morning Star Rotary's Earth Day Tree Project.

CLICK HERE for Tree Planting Instructions