Forest Health

Cutting firewood on your property can achieve more than one goal, such as providing fuel for heating and benefitting selected tree species. Providers of firewood cutting are listed here.

This publication has a dual role of being a non­technical, fully illustrated guide for use by the pub­lic, while still being useful to experts in the field. It describes and illustrates the 100 most frequently grown or encountered potentially poisonous plants found in Maryland.

Garlic mustard is a biennial flowering plant in the mustard family that is an aggressive invader of woodlands throughout the United States.

The News and Notes roundup for this issue features Extension forester Jonathan Kays' interview on Voice of America, a look at why people get lost in the woods, the potential benefit of ghost forests for certain birds, and a new urban tree grant program from the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Afforestation is the process of planting trees in formerly open space. Because trees take time to mature, it is important to ensure that the seedlings have sufficient light and nutrients to grow. This often involves controlling growth of other species within the planting area, including invasive species such as the distinctive Johnsongrass. And once established in an area, Johnsongrass can out-compete many other species for nutrients and over-top them to rob them of sunlight.

Japanese privets are less common than other privets that are more widespread across the eastern U.S. Reported sightings in the mid-Atlantic are sparse, but it may be more widespread, based on its continued use in landscaping.

Winged euonymus is not widespread in the mid-Atlantic. Its greatest reported infestations are in the Midwest and Northeast. It has been found in much of central and southern Pennsylvania, far northern Delaware, southwestern Virginia, north-central West Virginia, and the greater Washington DC area.

European buckthorn is a native of Europe and was introduced here as an ornamental plant, perhaps as early as the late 1700s. In the 1900s, it was planted widely to form living fence rows and for wildlife habitat. Since then, it has spread aggressively into a variety of environments.

Learn how Marylanders view forestry and its impact on the state's economy. Our regular features include profiles of the North American porcupine and mile-a-minute.

Butterflybush is a rarity among non-native, invasive species. It has a wide variety of cultivars and a wide range of supporters among retail outlets as well as some environmental observers. It is also benefitting from positive public relations related to the decline of butterflies. However, it is indeed invasive, and contributes to (rather than mitigates) the decline of pollinators.