Planting for the future? Oak trees may be the most widely adapted and coveted food source by wildlife than any other tree on the planet. With an average lifespan of 900 years they sequester carbon and stand as habitat trees for generations. If you have an open patch with full-sun, dry summers and wet winters consider an oak, they come in all sizes! Learn to plant, tend, and landscape around oaks.
“What makes oaks a particularly valuable tool in our our fight against climate change is their relationship with mycorrhizal fungi: mycorrhizae make copious amounts of carbon-rich glomalin, a highly stable glycoprotein that gives soil much of its structure and dark color. Oak mycorrhizae deposit glomalin into the soil surrounding oak roots throughout the life of the tree. Every pound of glomalin produced by oak mycorrhizae is a pound of carbon no longer warming the atmosphere, and glomalin remains in soil for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. These factors rank oaks among our best options for scrubbing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it safely in soil throughout the world’s temperate zones.” – Douglas Tallamy, The Nature of Oaks
This workshop is in design mode – stay tuned!