I received a mailer from Arbor Day Foundation, stating if I donate to their charity they’ll send me ten Norway Spruce trees (I live in the USA so this is not native to my area), plus send two purple flowering lilac shrubs (also non-native to my area).
I went to their website and there’s a Contact Us area where you can send info with your concerns regarding their trees, mailings, etc. Can someone help word how disappointing it is that they’re a US Tree organization that’s promoting non-native trees to people? If I didn’t understand the benefits of Native trees I’d be ecstatic to get my hands on them!
Feel free to send a comment of your own, you just have to go to their official website and go to the Contact Us section.
by babiegiiiirl
17 Comments
Classic. “Doesn’t matter which kind, just plant trees!”
Had a group in town plant a Norway maple as a memorial tree 😩.
Already sent them a message voicing my disappointment last year. This was their word for word response:
“Thank you for contacting the Arbor Day Foundation and for your feedback.
We appreciate the concern about the importance of planting native species. The Arbor Day Foundation works closely with many partners and peers including the ISA, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and leaders in academia to best inform tree planters on planting the right trees in the right places for the right reasons. We continually check with experts about appropriate trees to plant. Some fundamentals that we like to share are:
1. Always start with natives, and plant those whenever practical. Native tree species are vital for the food web of insects, birds, and other wildlife.
2. Do not plant invasive species. The Arbor Day Foundation does not plant, offer, or distribute invasive species.
3. Plant a diversity of tree species. Tree diversity helps mitigate the damage that can result from only a few species dominating a landscape. Devastating, widespread tree loss resulting from Dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer, for example, could have been reduced with species diversity. Additionally, a diversity of tree species can often lead to a diversity of songbirds and wildlife. To accomplish diversity, especially in urban landscapes, non-natives should sometimes be included to complement the native species that are available.
4. Depending on goals, compromises with well-adapted, well-behaved, beneficial non-native trees are important. For example, when there isn’t enough space for an American linden, consider a non-native little-leaf linden. It’s a good choice when habitat for pollinators is a goal. And, some of the ecological benefits of the elm genus can often be realized with a non-native lacebark elm, for example, especially in urban environments.
We do our best to offer a diverse selection of trees and shrubs that will serve well in the communities where they’ll be planted. We are always checking with the experts to ensure that the trees we offer are appropriate.”
They don’t care. It sucks.
The arborist I work for will occasionally give out trees. Sometimes native, and sometimes non-native, or a mix of both. Though a tree being native is important to a niche of gardeners, most are just happy to get a sapling whether it’s a redbud or a crape myrtle. Norway Spruce and Lilac are rather benign species (though a bit blase’ for my taste). Though Norway Spruce does make a fantastic carbon sink seeing as it is fast growing, long lived, and contains a lot of biomass per foot. Now if they offered up some young grafts of a new selection that has barely hit the market that might peak my interest, but I’d likely just donate and refuse the gift seeing as I’d want more interesting additions to my garden 🤣
Tbh Norway Spruce is one of the few non-native trees I give some mercy to. It’s so commonly grown and produces so many cones with so many seeds, yet its presence in the wild is very small and it only appears as scattered individuals instead of dense stands. It’s also a potential replacement if eastern hemlock goes extinct😕
That being said, please plant native trees. Norway spruce may not be really invasive in the U.S. but it doesn’t offer as much as our native trees do.
Arbor Day Foundation sells butterfly bush. Really all you need to know.
Although it isn’t native to North America, Norway spruce (unlike Norway maple) is at least not invasive.
I would prefer if they sent native species, but it would be even worse if they were disseminating invasive species.
I sent my comment, keep em coming.
I just got one and my trees were actually native. I hate that it hasn’t been everyone else experience.
That’s been my experience with them. 80% nonnative. All dressed as super important to plant because any trees are good tree. Never been happy with that group. They paint everything as black and white. They don’t work with nuances of other ecosystems like prairies and savannas. We all gotta drown in crepe myrtles and Norway spruce.
This actually hurts.
We got a survey not long after we bought our house, where they wanted to give us ten free trees/shrubs. Several were native and it seemed like a great cause.
Well…everything we planted from them has taken AGES to get any size. I’m talking coming up on our 5th year. We planted them just like we plant any other of our bare root trees and shrubs… And they gave me a Japanese Beautyberry when I thought I was getting an American. 🥲
Definitely not ordering from them again. There’s plenty of other nurseries selling affordable, healthy, native stock.
Yep, they unabashedly don’t care. Luckily the bare-root trees I’ve seen from them are in such poor shape that they probably won’t live anyway.
I just got the exact same mailer from them this week.
I threw it in the recycling bin and will never send another dime to that organization. I’m so disappointed that an organization like that is offering non-native trees and even sells invasive ones.
I donated to that same thing. I saw the 5 Norway spruces but also they’re giving me two flowering dogwoods and two redbuds, which I’m really excited for. I’ll probably just plant the spruces but cut them down before they get very big and use the material for gardening things… Idk if that’s wrong or not but thought it was a good idea.
Audubon Society does the same thing when suggesting plants for birds
Yes. I saw this last year. Into the recycling bin.