TREE TREASURES or ROOT FEAR

Our region is green. We have extensive greenbelts of interconnected, preserved forested lands, distinguished with a variety of native trees. Our towns, communities and neighborhoods are populated with countless planted trees. In many instances, the built environment blends and meshes with the natural one to create a complete “green scene”.

According to the USDA’s official Plant Hardiness Zone, we are in Zone 8B – which is a thin string stretching from Savannah, down the Georgia Coast, thru Jacksonville, then due west along the Florida Panhandle, into southern Louisiana and deep south Texas. The northern portion of the next southern zone, Zone 9, lies just southeast, brushing the greater Jacksonville metro area and reaching into St. Johns County, near the ocean. Zone 8B is a temperamental zone. Appalachian-friendly plant species don’t like the heat and humidity of the Zone. Sub-tropical and tropical beauties, from points south, don’t fare well in our seasonally-cold events. These factors limit the number and variety of native plants in our region.

The silver-lining is that the variety we do have, flourishes. Rapid and lush tree growth is evident in both our forests and in our planted yards and commons. Many tree types readily respond to our soil and climatic conditions. When all related factors are in synch, our forests sustainably mature and our planted trees grow healthy and strong.

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