Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) © Gordon Scaggs, 2003, all rights reserved.

Fall is the optimal season for planting new trees. Before the ground freezes, trees can expend a lot of their energy on root growth. After their leaves drop, however, trees enter a dormancy period that lasts until they bud in the spring. The best part about planting trees in the fall, however, is that you can be sure that once spring hits, your tree's growth can begin immediately.

Whether your goal is to provide shade or wind protection for your property, or offer more food and shelter for wildlife, it’s important to select trees that are native to your region. Naturalists at the National Wildlife Federation say natives are important because they offer the following advantages.

• Support local wildlife - Native plants and trees provide the best food and shelter for wildlife in your area, since the native plants evolved with the native critters!
• Prevent non-native infestation - Exotic plants and trees can spread to surrounding parks, meadows, and forests and decimate native plant life. Each day, approximately 4,600 acres of land are invaded by invasive plants.
• Grow habitat with minimal effort - Native plants and trees are generally well-adapted to the local environment and require far less fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides.
• While exotic trees and plants may look attractive, many reproduce rampantly, invading and destroying the diversity of our remaining natural habitats. Exotic invasives that have been popular for landscaping in the past but should not be used include: purple loosestrife, multiflora and cherokee roses, Asiatic bush honeysuckles, Japanese honeysuckle, autumn and Russian olive, burning bush and many others.

Here’s what you can do to ensure you’re propagating native trees and other native vegetation in your region.

• Buy or grow your own native plants. Be absolutely sure that your nursery can guarantee that its stock is not dug from the wild.
• Join and become active in a native plant group.
• Promote the use of native plants in roadside, school, and commercial landscaping.
• Save native plant communities in your area. It's much harder to restore wild areas than it is to preserve them.

Learn more about making your landscape wildlife-friendly by creating a Backyard Wildlife Habitat and having it certified by the National Wildlife Federation [www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat.]

The nation’s largest member-supported conservation education and advocacy group, the National Wildlife Federation unites people from all walks of life to protect nature, wildlife and the world we all share.