Landscape Stewardship - Your Property Matters
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ENGLISH IVY - Did you know that English Ivy can harm trees? Please cut the vines on your trees to help keep our neighborhood tree canopy healthy. (Be careful not to cut into the tree bark). Thanks for your help!
If you can’t remove the roots of your English ivy because the vines are so big, cut a section of the vine out at the base, as seen in this picture. The upper portions of the vine will eventually die giving your tree a chance to survive…and thrive!
Do you have a tree covered in vines like this? English ivy is often the culprit. It damages tree bark, blocks light, weakens limbs and can make trees more susceptible to pests and disease. Help steward our trees by simply severing vines from their roots. If vines are quite large, remove a 6-8" section with a saw. Do not cut into the tree bark or attempt to remove upper vines if it damages the bark. Without roots, the vines will eventually die. Note: If vines are brown and hairy, do not touch them as they could be poison ivy.
We have a preponderance of this non-native vine in Penn Valley, particularly on trees along property lines and roadways. Give your trees a chance by cutting a section of the vine out at the base (as seen in the adjacent photo). You can do it yourself with hand pruners and a hand saw or ask a landscaping company for help. Don't try to pull off large vines because this can damage the tree bark. Just allow them to die in place. Roots will eventually regrow, and you can cut them again or work to remove the root system over time through digging or continual mowing. Please share this information with your neighbors.
Ivy damages or even kills trees over time by deforming branching, weakening branches with its weight, holding moisture against the trunk, and keeping light from penetrating leaves. Our trees are under a lot of pressure right now, and the simple task of setting back the English ivy on your property could go a long way to protecting these majestic beauties and our neighborhood tree canopy. For more info, see this link. Thanks for your help!
Bringing Nature Home - Homegrown National Park - Doug Tallamy
The Pollinator Pathway of Lower Merion and Narberth - Join us!
How to Talk to Your Landscaper about Earth-Friendly Practices - Healthy Yards
Where to Buy Native Plants - Penn State Extension
PHS Tree Tenders Training Program - Learn how to plan and tend trees
Information about gas-powered leaf blowers - Help us reduce pollution
Road salt and chlorides - Keep our streams clean
Info on Composting - Lower Merion EAC
Climate Action Lower Merion - Easy changes for sustainable living
HOW TO REQUEST A STREET TREE FROM LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP
If you would like the Township to plant a tree in the Public Right of Way at your address, please provide your name, address and email to the Township Arborist, Joe Marco (jmarco@lowermerion.org).
The Township will consider all applications for appropriate planting sites and will advise you of the decision via email. We cannot guarantee your site is suitable ie: utility conflicts, street signs, or driveways but we will make every effort to provide you with a tree. The planting is to take place in the fall of 2020.
Purchase a Rain Barrel from Lower Merion Township
Call Holly at 610-645-6271
Recommended Books by Entomologist Doug Tallamy
Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope
Love your leaves!
Rethink fall leaf removal. Part of nature's design, leaves provide a natural source of nutrients to trees and create essential habitat for overwintering butterflies, native bees and other wildlife. If you use a landscaper, consider working with them to create a plan for keeping leaves around trees, shrubs, and perennials as natural mulch.
Why and How to Love your Leaves
Leave Leaves Alone - Ideas for reducing pollution, saving money, and benefiting wildlife and the environment with your leaves
Leave the Leaves! Xerces Society - How to benefit wildlife with leaves
Learn how leaves can benefit lawn and perennial beds - Fine Gardening
Where’s your bird habitat?
Did you know that migrating songbirds evolved with native plants and depend on the uniquely nutritious berries and insects that these plants host? Winter is a good time to think about spots in the landscape where you might be able to incorporate a valuable native tree or grouping of shrubs to help declining bird species.
Robins are resident birds in our area that often stay the winter or migrate short distances south before returning. They love native winterberries. Pictured here is Ilex verticillata ‘Red Sprite’.
Valuable native shrubs and trees for birds include the following (and many more!):
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
Arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)
Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
Inkberry holly (Ilex glabra)
Black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata)
Sassafras albidum
Sumac
Native oaks (host the highest diversity of caterpillars, a necessary food source for baby birds)
Hawthorn trees
Black willow (Salix nigra) - Downy fluff from flowers is an important component of many bird nexts
Remember that native shrubs and trees are more valuable than non-native varieties. For example, the berries of native shrubs have been shown to be higher in lipid (fat) content than non-native berries, and this provides necessary fuel for long-distance migration and reproduction. While you might see birds eating non-native privet berries, they are not getting a nutritious meal…and spreading an invasive plant species at the same time. Consider removing non-native invasives and replacing them with more ecologically valuable species to help declining bird species in our area and beyond.
Plant smaller species under power lines so that utility companies will not damage them through trimming or removal. Larger species should be planted at a safe distance from the lines. If species are removed, replant to restore natural beauty and ecological services lost.
TREE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNDER POWER LINES
When trees are removed, replanting is necessary to prevent invasive species moving in to the newly opened canopy, to prevent erosion, and to restore habitat for birds and other wildlife. Appropriately-sized, smaller native tree and shrub species for sun or part-sun under power lines include Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), American fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), native viburnums, and sumacs. For part shade conditions, consider native witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) or American dogwood (Cornus florida) which produces high fat berries at just the right time for migrating birds.
You don't need to plant large specimens. Small trees are sufficient and tend to do better over time. Just remember not to plant your trees too deeply. This is the most common mistake. The root flare (the point where the bark meets the roots) should be visible at the surface. This helps to prevent rotting at the base of the trunk. For the same reason, keep mulch away from the trunk bark. It should ring the tree but not touch it. This is another common mistake in landscaping. Finally, be sure to tease roots apart in the planting hole so that they spread wide for long-term stability, and don't amend the soil. Native soil is ideal for native trees. Happy planting!
Don’t let your storm drains remain blocked by debris like this.
STORM DRAINS - If you have a storm drain outside your home, please regularly clear debris to prevent downstream flooding. Did you know that this is a homeowner responsibility? Thank you for your help. This is critical to preventing overflow in our streams and to protecting residential properties and parks from flooding.
The importance of native plants and trees…
Natural habitats suffer under construction development, the use of pesticides, and climate change. Non-native ornamental species used in traditional landscaping provide little food for caterpillars or birds and often move into natural areas degrading habitat there too. We are losing a large number of species because they have few places to live and little food to eat.
Help bring back vibrant living landscapes by adding high wildlife value trees such as native oaks, birches and dogwoods. Layer in native shrubs like witchhazel, serviceberry and viburnums, and plant high value herbaceous species such as asters and goldenrods. Click here for a list of high value native plants based on your zip code.
Consider removing non-native species that insects cannot metabolize and learn how to identify and remove particularly invasive species that are harmful to the local ecosystem like barberry shrubs, burning bush, non-native viburnums, English ivy, winter creeper vine, Norway maples, Amur cork trees and Bradford pear trees. These species are carried by birds to natural habitats where they create monocultures that supplant native trees and therefore degrade the capacity of our woodlands to support the life depicted in our mural.
Interested in the bird-friendly ecological value of native plants? Want to support pollinators including our native bees? Learn more about native plants for your area here.
Click here to read about Doug Tallamy’s insightful book called Bringing Nature Home. This University of Delaware entomologist describes the special relationship between insects and their host plants and lists high value trees and shrubs that you can incorporate into your space.
The power and potential of your property:
Gardens and the greater landscapes that surround them occupy such enormous areas of the country that they have great potential to address many of the environmental challenges facing us today if given half a chance. Gardens are made of plants and plants deliver, either directly or indirectly, many of the ecosystem services that support human populations. Landscape designers, landscape architects, gardeners, and even homeowners who have no interest in gardening have within their power the ability to protect our watersheds, cool and clean the air we breath, build and stabilize top-soil, moderate extreme weather, sequester carbon, and protect the biodiversity that drives ecosystem function. —Doug Tallamy, The Living Landscape, pg 100
Landscape stewardship tip: STREAM-SIDE buffers
Do you live near a stream? Did you know that a minimum 100 foot buffer of trees and shrubs on each side of the stream is required to prevent erosion, slow runoff and filter pollution? Our streams have degraded in recent years. Stream banks are eroding, overwhelmed by heavy storms and too much runoff from pavement and lawns. Lawn chemicals, road salt and silt (soil runoff) pollute our streams and drinking water and make life difficult or unlivable for aquatic organisms; Fish can no longer live in our streams. Our Township is executing a plan to restore stream banks on public land, but we as individuals have the potential to make a greater impact in working together to restore and protect habitat along streams on private property.
Ways you can help:
Convert lawn areas to native tree, shrub and perennial plantings. Deep roots will absorb much more water than non-native lawn grasses. Most importantly, please do not deforest your property. Our native trees are treasures from the past that define Penn Valley and provide a tremendous number of ecosystem services including providing bird habitat and absorbing airborne heavy metals. Our wooded areas exist on private properties but are truly a shared resource, and we cannot get them back overnight.
Avoid lawn chemicals.
Leave dead wood standing, especially in natural areas of your landscape. Roots hold soil in place, and tree snags provide necessary habitat for owls, woodpeckers and songbirds.
Remove invasive plants/trees. Common invasives in our area include Norway maples, Amur cork trees, burning bush, barberry shrubs, non-native viburnums, privet and wineberry. Replant native trees and shrubs in these areas.
For more information, see this Delaware River Keepers brochure on 20 ways to protect your stream side property. Hard copies of the brochure are available at our meetings.
Visit www.streamsmarthousecalls.org to obtain a free consultation from the Lower Merion Conservancy on ways to reduce stormwater runoff on your property.
Deciduous trees contribute greatly to the character of Penn Valley
Native trees provide tremendous ecological services including temperature insulation around homes, absorption of stormwater runoff, cleaning of particulate matter and heavy metals from the air and providing food sources for birds, butterflies and other pollinators. Our tree-lined streets are a source of neighborhood pride and create an important sense of place. Consider planting young trees to help replace the older ones that are dying.
Beautiful fall foliage of our native Blackgum tree, Nyssa sylvatica
Native street tree considerations for our area:
Amelanchier canadensis (Shadblow serviceberry) - 20-30 ft, salt tolerant, drought sensitive, small multi-stemmed landscape tree, nice fall color, part-sun
Betula nigra (River birch) - 50-75 ft, salt + pollution + drought tolerant, full sun
Betula populifolia (Gray birch) - 35-50ft, salt + drought + compaction tolerant, beautiful white bark with age, part to full sun
Celtis occidentalis (Hackberry) - 75+ft, salt + drought + compaction tolerant, full sun
Cercis canadensis (Redbud) - 25 ft, salt sensitive but drought tolerant, purple blooms in spring, small landscape/understory tree, can grow in part sun
Chionanthus virginicus (American fringe tree) - 25ft, intolerant of salt spray but tolerant of salt in the soil, drought tolerant, small landscape tree, white blooms in spring, part sun
Crataegus viridis (Winter King Green Hawthorn) - 30ft, very high drought tolerance, intermediate salt tolerance, red berries in winter, full sun
Nyssa sylvatica (Blackgum) - 75ft, salt tolerant + drought resistant, beautiful red fall foliage, full sun
Quercus bicolor (Swamp white oak) - salt tolerant + drought resistant, excellent ecological value, full sun
Quercus phellos (Willow oak) - 40-75ft, salt tolerant + drought resistant, full sun
See the images below for ideas on protecting new trees from deer damage.
Local sources for containerized native plants and trees. Be sure to check websites or call for hours and dates of operation.
Redbud Native Plant Nursery, 904 N. Providence Rd, Media, PA 19063
Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery, 2415 Route 100, Orefield, PA 18069
Jenkins Arboretum - 631 Berwyn Baptist Road, Devon PA 19333
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve - 1635 River Road, New Hope PA 18938
Yellow Springs Farm | 1165 Yellow Springs Road, Chester Springs, PA 19425
Toadshade Wildflower Farm - Frenchtown, NJ - Good source for native seeds
Wild Ridge Plants - Alpha, NJ
Mail order source for small, bare root trees: Musser Forests, Inc., Indiana County, Pennsylvania
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Bring our beautiful American goldfinches to your yard by planting Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris), Great coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima), Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and other seed producing natives.
Have trouble with deer? See the images below for ideas on how to protect young tree plantings.
Simple metal garden stakes and galvanized wire will protect young trees while they get established. Once a tree is over 5' tall, the deer will not be able to reach the higher foliage for grazing. Black wire or plastic mesh often blends well with surroundings.
Deer bucks will rub trunks killing young trees or causing bark wounds that are difficult for the tree to heal. Wooden tree stakes will protect this sapling until it gets larger.
3-4 stakes of metal rebar placed around this tree are barely visible and will keep the deer at bay while it matures. Consider leaving protection around the tree until the trunk is 6-8" in diameter. Rebar can be reused with future plantings.
Learn to identify and remove invasive species. Click here for a list of over 10 reasons to remove english ivy.
Click here for a list of invasive plant species in Pennsylvania as maintained by the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Plants on the list include Japanese barberry, Norway maple, privet shrubs, burning bush (winged euonymus), English ivy and Japanese spirea. Many of these have traditionally been planted in our landscapes because of their aesthetic qualities, but we now know that they pose a threat to the greater ecosystem and should be removed. The good news is that there are native alternatives that will bring more birds and butterflies to your space.
Fall garden care for pollinators - More info in this Penn State Extension article.