A Door County naturalist wants you to know that it’s important to have many different types of trees and plants in your area. When Crossroads at Big Creek was tasked with planting trees as part of their parking lot expansion project, the group looked to learn from the issues of the past. Coggin Heeringa ::HAIR-inga:: , director and naturalist at Crossroads, remembers when the Dutch elm disease ravaged the trees in her hometown and there were no trees left. This is something she hopes to avoid with a new tree planting strategy.
The strategy involves around twenty different tree species. All the trees chosen are known host-plants for insects like moths and butterflies. This will increase the number of caterpillars, which in turn will increase the number of songbirds, who rely on the caterpillars for food.