After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards has re-initiated its free Tree Basics Public Education program online using ZOOM.
In late October, Tree Steward Emily Ferguson offered a class on how to identify trees in the fall. Participants learned tips and tricks to identify the major woody plant families and species found in Central Blue Ridge forests using the color of their foliage.
Last evening, Tree Steward Kathy Nepote offered a class on the importance of trees to wildlife. In addition to providing a wide variety of habitat, trees are central to a complex food web that includes nuts, berries, leaves, and insects. All are essential for the survival of our diverse wildlife (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and the insects they feed on). The session emphasized how vital native plants are to their survival and raised our awareness of the importance of trees, both living and dead, the complex nature of plant and wildlife interactions and pointed out visible signs of wildlife in our environment.
We have a full schedule of new sessions planned for 2021, offered either on weekday evenings or weekends so that all can enjoy them. One of the benefits of offering these sessions online is that there is virtually no limit on the number of those who can participate in these free sessions:
- Pruning landscape trees, Saturday morning, January 23rd.
- Winter tree identification, Tuesday evening, February 9th.
- Select, plant and care for trees, Saturday afternoon, March 20.
- Identify trees in spring, Tuesday evening, April 13.
- Identify and control non-native invasive plants, Sunday afternoon, May 23; and
- Identify trees in summer on Tuesday evening, June 15th.
Visit our website to see when registration opens.