Find ways to renew your property, which in turn will help renew the environment on the Eastern Shore. Plant native trees and bushes.
Download a copy of the Eastern Shore Gardener Newsletter.
Why Trees Are Important
Forests once covered most of the land area of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, but changing land use and more development in recent decades means there are fewer forested areas to filter water runoff and slow soil erosion. This results in more sediment and nutrients reaching the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waterways. Sediment and nutrients, the two major pollutants in the Bay, reduce water clarity and prevent sunlight from reaching underwater grasses (which form a critical habitat for crabs, fish, and other Bay life, and also provide food for waterfowl). Sediments stay suspended in the water column and block sunlight directly, while nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) spur the growth of algae, which in turn reduces the sunlight that reaches the bottom. When algae dies, decomposing bacteria consume oxygen in the water needed by fish, oysters, crabs, and other organisms.
Recommended Native Tree and Shrub Species for Riparian Areas
These tree species thrive in or are tolerant of moist soils:
- Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
- River birch (Betula nigra)
- Black gum ( Nyssa sylvatica)
- Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
- Red maple (Acer rubrum)
- Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
- Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolis virginiana)
- Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
- Black willow (Salix nigra)
- Pin oak (Quercus palustris)
- Willow oak (Quercus phellos)
Some shrubs that can planted in the understory (they do well in the shade produced by the trees above):
- Southern arrowood (Viburnum dentatum)
- Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
- Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
- Buttonbush (Cephalantus occidentalis)
- Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia)
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
(Chesapeake Bay Foundation, www.cbf.org)
Coastal Facts
- Maryland’s coastal zone includes 16 counties and Baltimore City, encompasses two-thirds of the State’s land and is home to 67.83% of its residents.
- Maryland has 4,360 miles of coastline along the Chesapeake Bay, Coastal Bays and Atlantic Ocean.
- The Chesapeake Bay is North America’s largest and most biologically diverse estuary.
- More than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals live in the Chesapeake Bay.
- Over 300 species of migratory waterfowl, songbirds and birds of prey seek the shallow coastal bays for food and shelter.
- An additional 3 million people are expected to move the Chesapeake Bay watershed by 2020.
- Nearly 95% of the land in Maryland drains to the Chesapeake Bay.
- Prior to the late 1800s, oysters were so abundant in the Chesapeake Bay that some oyster reefs posed navigational hazards to boats.
Need some help deciding on what trees to plant, and where? Check out www.forestryforthebay.org. Forestry for the Bay is a free, voluntary membership program made up of small and medium sized landowners who, like you, are interested in actively conserving their woodland or want to restore woods to their property.
