# Forests and habitat: native trees for wildlife and land

> Articles on forests and habitat: which native trees feed birds, bees, beetles and caterpillars, how old fields become woods, and how to keep forestland whole.

24 of 67 articles tagged Forests & habitat. By Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/forests-and-habitat/. Each article links to its own Markdown page; each tag at the end has a page of its own.

Habitat is the point of a native planting, so these pieces end in plants. The [habitat bundles](https://bluewhaletrees.com/bundles/index.html.md) group species that feed birds, bees and the rest as a set, and the [companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md) shows what grows beside a given tree in the wild.

## Articles tagged Forests & habitat

- [Native trees for the Great Lakes and Midwest: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-the-great-lakes-and-midwest/index.html.md): Which native trees suit Great Lakes clay, dune sand, prairie and river bottoms, how the lakes shift the zones, when to plant, and which pests change the choice. Published 2026-10-08; tags: What to plant, Forests & habitat, Planting.
- [Native replacements for burning bush, barberry, privet, Bradford pear and boxwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-replacements-for-burning-bush-and-bradford-pear/index.html.md): Which native to plant instead of burning bush, barberry, privet, Bradford pear or boxwood, why each is being replaced, and which states have banned the sale. Published 2026-09-28; tags: What to plant, Forests & habitat.
- [What to plant under a big tree: native shrubs for shade, and how to plant without hurting the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-to-plant-under-a-big-tree/index.html.md): Why little grows under maples and beech, how to plant beneath a tree without harming its roots, and which native shrubs still flower in dry or moist shade. Published 2026-09-28; tags: What to plant, Forests & habitat.
- [Mast years: why oaks, hickories and beech bear a huge crop one fall and almost none the next](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/mast-years/index.html.md): Why oaks, hickories and beech crop heavily in some years, how red and white oaks keep separate calendars, what mast does to wildlife, and when to collect seed. Published 2026-09-24; tags: Oaks, How trees work, Forests & habitat.
- [Why native trees become rare, and ten rare eastern species worth growing](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-native-trees-become-rare/index.html.md): Why native trees become rare, from ice-age relicts and scarce soils to blight and lost fire, what G-ranks mean, and ten rare eastern trees and shrubs to grow. Published 2026-09-24; tags: Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [Native trees and shrubs for deer and wild turkey: acorns, fruit, cover and a planting plan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-deer-and-turkey/index.html.md): What deer and wild turkeys eat, how many years each oak, hickory and fruit tree takes to bear, where cover and openings go, and what a food plot cannot do. Published 2026-09-22; tags: What to plant, Forests & habitat.
- [Native trees for the Mid-Atlantic: what to plant on the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont and the mountains](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-the-mid-atlantic/index.html.md): A Mid-Atlantic guide to the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont and the mountains: which native trees suit wet ground, sand, clay and cold, and which pests to expect. Published 2026-09-22; tags: What to plant, Forests & habitat, Planting.
- [How floodplain trees survive high water](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/how-floodplain-trees-survive-high-water/index.html.md): Why standing water kills roots, how bottomland trees get air to theirs, what cypress knees do, why fill kills an upland tree, and what to plant in a wet spot. Published 2026-09-20, updated 2026-10-06; tags: How trees work, Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [Native trees and shrubs for bees: pollen, nectar, nesting and a bloom calendar from willow to witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md): A bloom calendar of the native trees and shrubs that feed native bees and honey bees, month by month from willow to witch hazel, and the bees tied to one plant. Published 2026-09-17, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md): Which native trees and shrubs feed and shelter birds in every month, why native fruit and native insects beat ornamentals, and how to plant a yard for birds. Published 2026-09-17, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md): A caterpillar eats only the plants its species evolved with. Here are the native trees and shrubs of the East that feed the most butterflies and moths, ranked. Published 2026-09-17, updated 2026-09-29; tags: Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [Native trees and shrubs for wildlife: what deer, squirrels, bears, bats and turtles get from a planting](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-wildlife/index.html.md): Which native trees and shrubs feed and shelter mammals, reptiles and amphibians, month by month, and how to plant a yard or woodlot so the animals show up. Published 2026-09-17, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [Native trees for insects: the beetles, wasps, cicadas and fireflies that everything else eats](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-insects/index.html.md): Insects are the base of the food web. These are the native trees and shrubs that feed the most of them, and what dead wood, leaf litter and dark nights do. Published 2026-09-17, updated 2026-09-29; tags: Forests & habitat, What to plant.
- [How trees defend themselves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/how-trees-defend-themselves/index.html.md): Trees cannot run, so they fight with resin, thorns, tannin, latex, thick bark and stump sprouts. A tour of the defenses, with the debated parts flagged. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: How trees work, Protection & care, Forests & habitat.
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md): Vines and shrubs topple canopy trees and stop a forest from regenerating. Free the trees first, then the shrubs, then keep after the seedlings for years. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-25; tags: Forests & habitat, Protection & care, What to plant.
- [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md): A forest floor of leaves, twigs and fruit feeds a tree and holds water in ways a wood-chip bed cannot. How to build one in a yard, and where chips still belong. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Protection & care, Forests & habitat, How trees work.
- [Marcescence: why young beeches and oaks keep their dead leaves all winter](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/marcescence/index.html.md): The copper-brown leaves rattling on beech saplings and young oaks in January are marcescence. What it is, why it might happen and why it needs no action. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-10-06; tags: How trees work, Oaks, Forests & habitat.
- [Protecting forestland for good](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-forestland-for-good/index.html.md): A conservation easement is the tool most private forest owners end up using. What it does and does not do, the weaker tools, and what to ask a land trust. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Forests & habitat, Protection & care.
- [Sapsucker holes and the wasps that follow them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/sapsucker-holes-and-wasp-damage/index.html.md): Neat rows of small holes weeping sap are the work of a sapsucker, not a borer. What the bird is doing, who else feeds at the holes, and when it matters. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-25; tags: Decay & damage, Protection & care, Forests & habitat.
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md): Leaf litter, stick piles, an exposed root flare and uncompacted soil keep a tree alive for centuries. Nails, straps, fill and parked trucks quietly undo it. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Protection & care, Forests & habitat.
- [What grows back when a field is left alone](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/old-field-succession/index.html.md): An abandoned field in the East goes from goldenrod to redcedar, sweetgum, tuliptree and black locust in a decade, and to oaks in a century. How to steer it. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Forests & habitat, Growth & age, What to plant.
- [What old growth actually looks like](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-old-growth-looks-like/index.html.md): Well under one percent of eastern forest is old growth. The six outward signs of an old tree, where old stands hide, and how to steer a woodlot back toward it. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Forests & habitat, Growth & age, Decay & damage.
- [Why the range maps are wrong](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/range-maps-are-wrong/index.html.md): Most native range maps are hand-drawn 1970s outlines, copied ever since. Why they are coarse, the kinds of errors they carry, and what to trust instead. Published 2026-09-15, updated 2026-09-20; tags: What to plant, Planting, Forests & habitat.
- [Fungus on a tree is not a death sentence](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/fungus-is-not-a-death-sentence/index.html.md): Hollow trunks, torn-out limbs and shelf fungi look like the end. Trees can live for decades or centuries in that state, and here is how to tell when it matters. Published 2026-09-14, updated 2026-09-20; tags: Decay & damage, How trees work, Forests & habitat.

## Tags

- [Growth & age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/growth-and-age/index.html.md): 10 articles
- [Measuring trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/measuring-trees/index.html.md): 3 articles
- [Planting](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting/index.html.md): 22 articles
- [Protection & care](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protection-and-care/index.html.md): 21 articles
- [Decay & damage](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/decay-and-damage/index.html.md): 11 articles
- [How trees work](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/how-trees-work/index.html.md): 25 articles
- [Oaks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/oaks/index.html.md): 8 articles
- [Forests & habitat](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/forests-and-habitat/index.html.md): 24 articles
- [What to plant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-to-plant/index.html.md): 30 articles