Backyard 33 
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Regrowing forests can quickly store far more carbon in the vegetation than lawn grass—as much as twenty-five times more in 
only fifteen years—while also providing superior habitat. With this in mind, the author has begun a small reforestation project 
in an area previously maintained as lawn. 
trunk.*° The native poison ivy (Toxicodendron 
radicans) and grape (Vitis spp.) are generally 
more benign than bittersweet, but they func- 
tion similarly and can proliferate in edge habi- 
tats, so I generally cut these vines at the base 
of my trees to give the trees every advantage to 
remain healthy and sequester the most carbon. 
With less management, tree branches inevita- 
bly grow close to my house and into my driveway 
and need to be trimmed periodically. After trim- 
ming, I deposit the branches in a brush pile or 
scatter them into the woods rather than chipping 
them or carting them away. Brush piles serve 
as cover and den habitat for a variety of small 
animal species such as red-backed salamanders, 
red-spotted newts, wood frogs, wrens, white- 
throated sparrows, juncos, and box turtles.”° 
Trees will also die over time from insects, 
pathogens, and other causes and can be a haz- 
ard if houses, cars, or recreational spaces are 
in the fall zone. Common sense dictates that 
these should be cut down. But if dead trees are 
not a hazard, they provide considerable benefits 
if left standing and are not an indication that 
the forest is “unhealthy” and needs to be fixed. 
Though no longer sequestering additional car- 
bon, standing dead trees continue to store exist- 
ing carbon, often for decades, as the carbon is 
released slowly via decomposition.”’ Dead trees 
also provide habitat for cavity-nesting birds and 
mammals and serve as an abundant source of 
insect food for woodpeckers and other bark- 
gleaning birds like nuthatches. On my property, 
a standing dead elm tree (Ulmus americana) 
