"I couldn t have done it without this lady. I have a terrific partner," said Dick Peach about his wife, Shelley. (RoundTable photo) Dick and Shelley Peach
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By Leslie Shad
Evanston trees lead a challenging life. They must survive road salt, slices from lawn mowers, feet compacting their soil, gas main and sewer replacement projects, street resurfacing, and other stresses. They also get in the way of development projects. Historic old trees need our special attention and protection. As the Chicago Regional Trees Initiative has pointed out, we are losing our oaks, and now hang on to only 17% of our original oak ecosystem.
This comes at a time when Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware entomologist, is releasing his latest book “The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees” which outlines how critical oaks are to humans and nature. The pre-eminent U.S. keystone tree, only oaks are nurseries to more than 500 U.S. caterpillar species.