I lived in Henderson, TN south of Jackson, TN for over 4 years. At the time I was there on a job transfer thought I was going to be there for the rest of my life. At any rate planted 18 blueberry bushes in clay soil along with many fruit trees. Used aluminum sulfate for ph amending the soil, I was really an amateur at the time, and didn't know a lot about blueberries, much more knowledgeable now after living in TN moved back to Indiana. Anyways I planted rabbiteye's in TN mostly Misty's with some Climax and other assorted varieties. Made me sick as when I went back to check on the house, the blueberries were in their 4th year and loaded with fruit!! If they could make it with my feeble attempts then anyone can do it. Now that I am back in Indiana on my second try here as the rabbits got mine in the winter after first planting in 06. Doing much better with with highbush and on my second go around. Even trying some in pots now as I love blueberries!! Good luck and hopefully you will have much success as I did in TN!!

Greenthumbz, those are gorgeous pics! I've heard that there are a couple of trees that are not native to North America but are used by significant numbers of native insects. 1) Malus/Crabapples - native, hybrid, or exotic, Douglas Tallamy's book stated that the leaf chemistry is so similar that North american insects will use all species. This certainly bears true in my experience. I've got lots of crabs, a few specimens and a crazy wild thicket full of them in back,and they are bird magnets, not just for the fruits in the fall but for the nectar and insects in spring and summer. 2) Picea abies/Norway spruce - don't have any personal experience, but was told this by an ornithology student at Cornell who was doing a study on the subject

One question I would ask Ann is how the property was maintained in the past 10 - 20 years. This would give some information about what recent practices have left the woods as they currently are. If you like the way they are, you could just keep doing the same. To my mind it's more complicated than that. Yes, I like the woods the way they are (and I don't know much about what's been done in the past years except I think relatively nothing). However, even though I 'like' the woods now, I do not know if their current condition and if doing nothing is best for the long term health of the woods. I truly feel that we are the stewards of this land, not the owners, and I asked this question to try to find out how best to care for the land and return it as much as possible to its native state. One thing that is obvious to me from the discussion above is that I need to learn more. You all use terms that I am not sure of, and differentiate between bottom land woodlands andother woodlands, and talk about disturbance ecology...I need to learn more. I assume you call my area bottom land because its along the river? For what its worth, someone mentioned an overabundance of maples - that is not the problem here. Maples don't grow on our side of the river, too alkaline. Box elders do, and we do have some box elders, but my impression (which may be wrong) is that those are native. There are not a lot of them. Do any of you have suggestions for good informative books that would help me learn about forest ecology? Or is this such a huge topic that I would need to go back to school :) ? We do get erosion of the bank. We also get flooding pertty much every spring (and sometimes, such as this year, during the summer too). If the flooding is only spring thaw flooding, it doesn't seem to affect the plants too much. However if it is a summer flood, essentially all of the undergrowth is killed. It will be back next year, but for now there is not that beautiful green understory that the pictures above show. This discussion is interesting to me. As I say, I need to learn more, but you are giving me ideas of WHAT I need to learn. Ann

Kendra, I have found much the same. Even those who know what HOSP are responsible for, seem to not bother taking action. Then when you tell someone about trapping or nest removal, some begin to defend the HOSP saying it's inhumane or evil. I understand where you're coming from on the 16 year old kid. In fact, I'm 17 myself! I've educated myself incredibly. I try to do everything in my power to eliminate HOSP and help the natives. Since he is young like myself, teaching him the way early could lead him into the hobby! I worry about people like myself not existing in this generation. I know plenty of people my age who are complete idiots and won't contribute to society. They make us good kids look bad. Not saying everyone should be a birder. But I wish more people like myself were around. Sorry to hear it Lisa. As long as new bluebirders come along and the advice is carried out, we can keep the hobby long term. My main concern is development. It continues as human population expands. We do our best. Sometimes it just isn't enough ~Tim~