Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge: Why We Must Speak For The Trees

 If we don't speak for the trees who will?

 I wrote this post two summers ago. Two summers before an incredible once in a life time ice storm decimated canopy trees and left homeowners without electricity for weeks. We personally lost our power, water and heat for more than 10 days and had to move out of our house. 

In response to the power loss, Nashville Electric Service (NES) adopted an aggressive tree-trimming protocol featuring a 15-foot lateral clearance rule, ground-to-base clearing, and shortened maintenance cycles, which sparked intense community push back. Because they operate under an independent Electric Power Board they don't have to answer to our city council or mayor so we were stuck with their aggressive tree trimming protocol.

When we received our "we are coming to a tree near you" postcard from NES we immediately called their helpline to have their arborist visit to discuss what they planned to do with the Bur oak in our yard. Although the oak is in our yard the limbs reach toward the power lines. We have never lost a limb on that mighty oak to wind or ice in the 40 years we've been in this house. But, there was nothing we could do. We weren't allowed to use our own arborist because he wasn't licensed to work near power lines. I'm not misquoting the arborist when I say we were told the tree pruning was going to be brutal and it would be ugly. 

And it was.

 

The drought this past summer and fall have only added to the challenges to our trees. But the one I see doing the most harm to our tree canopy and maybe yours is development. Mature oaks, hickories, hackberries and other trees are being bulldozed down at an alarming rate because developers find it easier to remove them than to protect them. I've been watching trees dying on the new builds all over my Hillwood neighborhood. The simple reason is that roots weren't protected from soil compaction because the soil has been compacted or roots severed. The folks across the street lost two beautiful oaks after they moved in. The photo is a photo of the house during early construction. The two trees in the center died and were removed this summer.

Developers don't protect trees because they don't want to spend the money and because there are NO real penalties for removing them. Shame on them and our city governments.

Major causes of construction-related tree decline include:

 • Root Severing: Because most fine roots live in the top 6 to 18 inches of soil they get severed. Digging for foundations, basements, utilities, driveways, and sidewalks cuts through major structural and absorbing roots.

• Soil Compaction: Heavy machinery, trucks, and stored materials press down on the soil and crushes the soil and roots cannot breathe, absorb water, and exchange gases. 

• Grade Changes: Lowering grade shaves off feeder roots and raising the grade suffocates them.  

• Chemical Contamination: Spills or washouts of concrete, paint, fuel, solvents, or toxic waste into the soil poison the root zone. 

• Drainage Alterations: Grading and adding patios and hardscapes reroute water flow, leaving the tree either starved of moisture or sitting in standing water. 

• Trunk and Bark Wounds: Bulldozers and equipment scrape off bark and damage the inner vascular layer (cambium) that moves water and food through the tree, while also opening entry points for decay fungi and pests. (source)

 

I wanted to share this post from June 2024 because it addresses the importance of trees to neighborhoods, wildlife and humans. I hope you find inspiration to speak up for trees where ever you live.xoxogail

I started to write about the loss of trees in my neighborhood and as alarming as that is to me I was struck by something that is far more important. People are living where there is little or no tree canopy. Imagine no trees when you step outside. That is true for seventy percent of Americans who are now living in urbanized areas where their proximity to trees and nature has greatly diminished. That means that when someone steps outside there is no shade to play under or to protect them from summer heat. There are no trees to help them get healthier. There are no trees to gather under and visit with friends. There are no trees to make the neighborhood feel pleasant or attractive. Observational research has shown that cities without trees are prone to more violence and health issues. 

 

Add to this that many of the 70% living without a close proximity to nature are living in low income neighborhoods. The good news is that more cities are now engaged in adding trees to their canopy and hopefully, they're planting trees in low income neighborhoods, too. 

 

North Nashville tall skinnies and no trees

 The photo below reflects Tree Equity studies in several Nashville neighborhoods. Trees are critical urban infrastructure that are essential to public health and well-being. The Tree Equity Score was created to help address damaging environmental inequities by prioritizing human-centered investment in areas with the greatest need. To find out your city's score follow the link.(source)

Many of the studies linking trees with improved health are observational. "Observational studies are ones where researchers observe the effect of a risk factor, diagnostic test, treatment or other intervention without trying to change who is or isn’t exposed to it." (source)

Autumn color in canopy trees

Scientists and other researchers are also engaged in experimental research to explore, beyond observational studies how trees affect physical and mental well-being. This is exciting news to me and I am hoping that research studies like this will convince the Nashville city council (and other cities) that we need to protect our big canopy trees from development. According to the Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, Metro Nashville's tree canopy declined by 674 acres. We're also loosing trees to Emerald Ash Borer at an alarming rate. I'll be taking down at least two trees that could fall on my house if left untreated. Deciding to treat them is a huge and often expensive decision. They need to be treated before they're infected and taken down before they're in danger of falling.

Small trees like American Hophornbeam are perfect for planting along streets, too

 

Those of us who garden with nature in mind know how valuable trees are to wildlife. It's clear to us that trees are more than pretty things for our landscapes. Native canopy trees and understory trees support the life cycle of many species. They're keystone plants that are crucial to the food web and necessary for many wildlife species to complete their life cycle. Without keystone plants in the landscape, butterflies, native bees, and birds will not thrive and neither would we!

Here's my probably incomplete list of the many ways trees are valuable:

• They clean the air we breath
• They help fight climate change
• They provide oxygen
• They cool streets and neighborhoods
• They conserve energy
• They slow water evaporation
• They reduce water pollution, runoff and erosion
• They shade children while they play ( reduce UV-B exposure)
• They provide food for humans and birds and animals
• They provide shelter, nesting and 
  
• They help us heal
• They can sooth our frazzled nerves
  
• They help reduce fear and violence in neighborhoods
• They reduce noise (blocks interstate noise)
• They bring people together when planting them
  
• They help promote healthy soils
• They provide homes for critters
• They provide beauty in a concrete gray city
• They provide property and commercial value to homes, neighborhoods and cities
• They provide economic value, jobs, etc.
  
• They provide spiritual value 
• They can reduce crime if the right trees are planted in the right way
  

What can we personally do to help trees:

• Keep them healthy
• Contact our city government to let them know you want trees protected
• Join your neighborhood association in lobbying your local government to protect trees
• Donate money to organizations that plant trees in neighborhoods
• Join tree support groups in your city and state 
• Plant native trees on your property 
• Pay attention to areas in your city that have no trees. Lobby for them to get trees.
• Ask congress to support and advance tree planting bills
• Ask the EPA to invest in trees 
  

Local metro Nashville organizations that support trees:

Root Nashville

Cumberland River Compact 

Nashville Tree Conservation Corp 

Nashville Tree Foundation 

Tennessee Environmental Council 

Urban Forestry Recommended trees for Nashville

Metro Tree Advisory Committee

 

Trees are valuable to all of us. We all deserve to live where we have access to nature.  Simply put trees have the power to heal us, soothe our frazzled nerves, help us feel safe, clean the air we breathe, make neighborhoods more livable, and, mitigate climate change. 

My hope is that as the scientific research continues our city and state governments will embrace the value that trees bring to our quality of life and invest in planting more in our communities. xoxogail

Want to Take the First Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?

The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things, each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post it? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

• Gone are the lightening bugs.
• Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
• Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
• Gone is plant diversity. 
• Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
• Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
• Gone is a healthy foodweb.
  

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Archival Visit-Little Ex-Asters Everywhere

I went into the archives to find a fun Wildflower Wednesday post to share this month because my work space is chaotic from ongoing reconstruction after abatement and remediation from a burst pipe! I've chosen Little Ex-Asters Everywhere. As you'll see in this post I fell under their spell the first fall in this house and it wasn't long after that I became completely charmed by bumblebees and other pollinators that visited them. Once the little asters were the dominant wildflower at Clay and Limestone. I miss that look and feel and will be scattering their seeds hoping they will again make a magnificent presence in this garden.

 

Little Ex-Asters Everywhere: October 21, 2015

Ex-aster time is the best time to be in the garden. The days are warm and Autumn angle of the sun makes everything glow.

Leaves from the oak and hickory canopy have begun to fall and the sunlight that gets blocked all summer is now able to reach the woodland floor where it warms up the garden and spotlights these little beauties.

Even on cool mornings the sunny spots are alive with bees and other pollinators. You have to be very patient to capture a photo of the Bumbles, they're very busy in their mad dash to collect pollen and nectar to fortify their nests for the winter.

 Later in the day the skippers can be seen flitting from flower to flower.

 Bee mimics, like the fly above, are busy nectaring, too.

Green metallic bees are all over the little ex-asters

 Although, the Bumbles are my favorites, I am pretty crazy about all the critters that visit and live in this garden. The little bees green metalic bees make me smile. If you see one, you'll see dozens of them.  

 The ex-asters introduced me to the Bumbles and we've been friends ever since...

Asters (as they were once known) and other Central Basin natives grew with happy abandon in the forested woodland where this garden now stands. In the early 1950s a neighborhood was carved from the woodland and our house was built. Homeowners came and went, while the asters grew quietly on the woodland  edge. Forty-one years ago almost to the day, my husband I bought this house and this brand new gardener fell head over heals in love with the blue clouds of flowers that were covered with bees and butterflies.

 I built my garden around the flowers. I've allowed them to root and seed themselves with abandon.

They've spilled into the paths, crept into the wildflower beds and cozied up to the benches all over Clay and Limestone.

Each fall I wait with anticipation for those first blooms. With them come the pollinators. It's not that there aren't pollinators during the spring or summer, it's knowing that these will be among the last until next spring that makes my heart soar and finds me dashing to the garden first thing in the morning.

What a beautiful dance. Swaying flower stalks and busy bees.

It's been a happy and successful relationship, if I do say so myself!

 

 

THE PARTICULARS

Genus: Symphyotrichum 

Species: S cordifolium and S shortii and maybe a few others that I've added like Calico aster and Aromatic aster

Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium): Delicate bluish-purple or pale blue flowers with heart-shaped lower leaves. Forms a slow spreading clump usually in woodland soils that are average to dry. A great plant massed for shady or semi-shady native plant gardens and woodlands. 

Short's Aster (Symphyotrichum shortii, formerly Aster shortii) is a shade-tolerant, native North American perennial wildflower in the family Asteraceae. Grows about 2 to 4 feet tall in upright, bushy clumps. Features pale blue, lavender, or violet-blue ray flowers (0.75" or larger) with central disk florets that start buttery yellow and age to deep reddish-purple after pollination 

Family: Asteraceae 

Life Cycle: Perennial 

Habit/Form: Arching or erect 

Growth Rate: Medium 

Maintenance: Low 

Light: Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours) 

Soil: Clay, High in Organic Matter, Loam (Silt) 

Drainage: Good Drainage     

Moisture: Occasionally dry and some moisture

Range: Both little ex-asters are happy in eastern US, but, the heart leaved aster is native further west. Neither like Louisiana.

 

Propagation: Best by seed or plant plugs.

Attracts: Bees, Butterflies, Pollinators, Small Mammals, Songbirds and Specialized Bees 

 Comments: If you want a big blue look and have the space and/or tolerance for their green leafyness most of the summer, then, they are the plants for you! You can surely find a few for your garden with over 66 species asters found in the United States.

 They bloom for almost two months, grow in almost any soils, flower in the shade, tolerate drought or deluge, they are also larval host plants for many species of Lepidoptera and are visited by every bee, bee mimic, wasp, skipper and butterfly that lives here or stops by the garden. They are the primary nectar source for late visiting butterflies and bees and if we have a later than usual frost, they are often the only nectar source for the last bees.

PS Please don't use pesticides in your garden and be mindful of where you purchase your plants. Many plants are still being treated with neonics (neonicotinoids). These are systemic poisons that are absorbed into the plant's vascular tissue and cannot be washed off. The chemical permeates everything—the roots, leaves, stems, and crucially, the pollen and nectar. Go here for an article on the effects of neonicotinoids on bees and humans.

xoxogail 

 

Thank you for stopping by and welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if your wildflower is in bloom or not; and, it never matters if we all share the same plants.  

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

FIrst Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge: Fall Bird Migration: Keep Bird Baths Full and Turn Off Your Outdoor Lights

PLEASE!

 Wowzer, look at the number of birds who flew over Tennessee earlier this week. Tennessee is experiencing a drought right now so water is essential. Food helps, too. While you're thinking about birds, please turn off your outdoor lights at night!

And, Davidson county statistics!

Over 39 Million birds flew over Tennessee overnight on Monday of this week...and millions more will continue migrating south through November.

Birds migrate south as winter approaches because insects and other foods are dwindling. They're traveling to areas that have food and nesting. Some birds stay put because they can find adequate food and water, others are traveling anywhere from a hundred miles to several hundred. The birds that are being monitored by Bird Cast are long-distance migrators. "They typically move from breeding ranges in the United States and Canada to wintering grounds in Central and South America. It's an arduous journey and over 350 different species of North American birds are long distance migrators." (source)

 

Nuthatches don't usually migrate from middle TN. They are frequent visitors to bird feeders

Migration is a natural phenomena that happens every fall and spring. Their journey is physically taxing and the lack of adequate food and water supplies along the way, bad weather, exposure to predators and the ever increasing danger from colliding into lit up buildings all add to making this journey hazardous.

Here's what we can do to help birds during their arduous journey

 

Provide food

Fill your garden with native plants that attract insects that birds will need or have seeds that birds eat both provide needed fuel. Plant these: sunflowers, purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and various asters, goldenrods, and native grasses like Big Bluestem and Little Bluestem. For birds that prefer nuts, plant native oaks, hickories, and hazels. Leaving these plants standing with their seed heads intact through fall and winter provides a crucial food source for migratory birds.

Provide fresh water

Make your windows obvious, especially the big picture windows. Windows are reflective and confuse birds. Add decals, paint spider webs, stripes or designs, this will keep birds from colliding into them when they stop at our feeders. 

Go lights out at 11pm to 6am during migration (spring and fall)

Become an advocate: Work to get your community involved in turning off their outdoor lights from 11pm to 6am every night. 

Join local groups advocating for birds and other critters: Bird Safe Nashville, Nashville Urban Bird, The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, Tennessee Environmental Council

Investigate where migrating birds might be staging near you. For years Purple Martins have been roosting in the trees in downtown Nashville. I didn't see their roosting site in August and really missed seeing them. The photo below is from September 1, 2025

 

 

Sept 1, 2025 downtown Nashville

Providing Food for birds is a year round gardening commitment

Because we get a lot of joy from observing them in our gardens, Michael and I feed the birds and provide water year round. I garden for wildlife so the garden has been designed with critters in mind. In fact, nearly every plant has been chosen with birds, insects and other critters in mind. My native shrubs provide food, nesting and shelter for mammals and birds, as well as being a host plant to butterflies, moths and other insects that keep my wildflower garden thriving. Native plants are also a haven for tasty insects which so many migrants, particularly the Warblers need for fuel. 

I hope that there's enough food in the garden for hungry migrating birds that stopover; if not, there will always be supplemental seed and suet in feeders and water in the bird baths and raised ponds. Biologists refer to places as “stopover” habitats, areas where birds stop to rest, eat, and seek shelter from predators. Some stopover sites are so large they can even be called “staging areas” because so many birds come together to rest and then continue their migration. One of the most famous staging areas around the world is along the Platte River in central Nebraska, where more than 500,000 sandhill cranes gather in a spectacle of migration! (source) That's on my "got to see list".

 Water is essential to migrating Birds.

 My garden has been crispy from the heat dome that sat over middle Tennessee for weeks. 100˚ days and no rain were devastating for the garden. We asked John, the owner of The Woodthrush, what we could be doing for migrating birds. He said that water was super important for migrating birds. We are keeping our birdbaths topped up with clean water for our resident and visiting birds. 

 

 

Here's a little bit more about birds and water that you might like to know.

Birds need water just as much as they need food. The birds that live and visit our garden need dependable water to survive. Each day, an adult bird needs to drink enough water to make up 5 percent of its body weight to replace the water lost from waste removal, respiration and evaporation. Water performs a number of important functions: bathing, to clean feathers and remove parasites. They get some of their water/moisture from the insects and fruit they eat, but, they need to drink water every day. 

 

How we can provide water:

• Bird baths. Place them near cover so birds can hide from prey. Place in shade so water stays fresh. Change water often. I heat mine all winter so there is water for birds when it's freezing out.
  
• Place water dishes on the ground since many birds prefer drinking water like this.
  
• If you have the resources a pond or stream would be ideal.
• Raised bed ponds with a way for birds to safely drink.
  
• A shallow galvanized container with rocks for birds to perch on works well, too.
  
• Misters, water wigglers, and drippers invite birds to come to bird baths and natural pools.
  
• When desperate for rain, as we've been lately, I turn on an over head sprinkler and watch the birds fly in and out of the water. It's magical, they arrive the minute the water is turned on. It makes me happy and takes care of many of the critters. I do it for the birds post.

 

Migrating birds need this very important thing to happen, too.

Birds that migrate or hunt at night navigate by moonlight and starlight. Migratory birds depend on cues from properly timed seasonal schedules. Artificial lights can cause them to migrate too early or too late and miss ideal climate conditions for nesting, foraging, and other behaviors. It can also cause them to be attracted to illuminated building where they can collide and die. (source) 

Collision hazards for birds come in many forms and can affect many types of birds. In fact, nearly one billion birds collide with glass in the U.S. alone each year. Most of these (preventable) fatalities happen at homes and buildings shorter than four stories tall. Please make note of that fact...Birds are in danger of our lit-up homes, not just sky-scrappers, wind-turbines or towers.

According to research scientist Christopher Kyba, for nocturnal animals “the introduction of artificial light probably represents the most drastic change human beings have made to their environment.” 

“Predators use light to hunt, and prey species use darkness as cover,” Kyba explains. “Near cities, cloudy skies are now hundreds or even thousands of times brighter than they were 200 years ago. We are only beginning to learn what a drastic effect this has had on nocturnal ecology.” (source)

Migrating Purple Martins 2024

One last thing.

This is my plea to you all. Please turn off your outdoor lights from 11pm to 6am every night.  I wish you would consider turning off your eave lights, tree up-lighting and porch lights every night, but if not always, please, turn them off during bird migration. For more information about the effects of artificial lighting on all living creatures go to my post First Wednesday Challenge: Every Day Needs A Night.

Thank for reading, xoxogail

 PS. Birds you might not recognize could be stopping by to nosh at your feeders and take a dip in your water features. To help you id them I recommend the  Merlin Bird Id.

 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.