John Degroot

A gardener reports mixed results after planting 45 native trees in a sandy backyard, with river birch, pine, hackberry, oak and red maple showing strong growth while several basswood, tulip, beech, juneberry, coffee tree, dogwood and redbud struggled or died. The experience illustrates how native trees can grow unpredictably outside natural settings and how soil amendments and mulch can improve survival. A Sarnia-Lambton initiative that planted hundreds of seedlings achieved an estimated survival rate above 75 percent, although pests, weeds, animals and physical damage may reduce that figure over time.