OAKS

I love oaks. I live on 6 acres dominated by oak trees. They are tall, beautiful and majestic as they lift lobed-leaves to the heavens seeking the sunshine they need to survive. Each Summer and Fall their acorns shower down on us as the squirrels cut them from the stems and drop the empty hulls to the ground below.

I appreciate the oaks most of all in the winter for the warmth their wood provides as it burns in my wood stoves. The red oaks are the best fire wood trees in the forest. The grow straight, tall with only a few branches and provide a wood that is easy to cut and split. We have used a wood stove for our primary heat source since 198o. At least 9o % of the wood I have burned over that time was from red oaks.Oaks are the most ecologically valuable tree in the woods as well.

Besides the squirrels other creatures such as deer, bears, turkeys and the various rodents that call the oak forest home gain much of their food from the acorns and brouse oaks provide.Posted by Dick Brown

NATIVE PLANT ACTION NETWORK

Native Plant Action Network
Dick Brown
Mt. Gretna, PA
E-mail: dickbrownnpan@gmail.com
motto: “We are all in this together”.


I have decided to focus on environmental issues that show our species how it can act locally and have a global impact. Energy, water quality, solid waste, air pollution, global warming, and other similar environmental issues all involve large numbers of people making difficult decisions. Result: Needed change comes very slowly, if at all.

Everyone lives on some piece of land somewhere and thus has an opportunity to have an impact on their local community. All land areas whether they be mowed lawns, farmed fields or vacant city lots, had in the past an assemblage of native plants growing there. So?

I am suggesting that we work where we can---in our own landscapes, yards, gardens, etc. to establish and maintain native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses. A landscape of concrete, blacktop, mowed lawn and alien plants is sterile and isolates us from the real world. By establishing plants native to the area where we have our home or our business, we give a wide variety of organisms a place to live and create a healthier environment for everyone.

My goal with the Native Plant Action Network is to provide information and assistance to anyone who is interested in moving toward a more natural landscape.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will do what I can to help.