“But surely a few logs of my firewood from home won’t hurt anything if I take them camping with me!!! I don’t want to buy firewood when I already have a bunch!”

It’s easy to overlook the creatures we don’t see very often. But lots of little critters feed on and live in dead wood and not just rotting wood, even dry firewood! The culprits of deadly Oak Wilt, the Emerald Ash Borer, and the invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle are just some of the critters known to hitch a ride on firewood.

Spring is the time when we rethink our whole existing gardens. The more we understand how much wildlife, including our essential pollinators, struggle with traditional constrained lawn and manicured gardens full of exotic plants, the more we might be motivated to change things up a bit!

In preparation for the upcoming growing season, we interviewed NCEC board chair and Master Naturalist Sarah Pregitzer, who has a wealth of knowledge to offer about the role of pollinators in our ecosystem as well as easy ways to get started with planting for pollinators in your yard or in the community.