The Millbrook Garden Club has created the conservation-themed exhibit to share information about the important environmental benefits of trees and to introduce you to six particularly beautiful and useful native trees. Grown reliably in our area, they can be purchased at local nurseries and are easy to plant and care for. Significantly, these trees provide habitat for wildlife and are an essential food for pollinating insects, which in turn are critical to our own food supply. By growing native shrubs and trees, your home garden and yard provide bees and birds the food they need to thrive—and you become an important player in the management of our nation's wildlife ecology. We hope you will plant and care for a native tree on your property using the information provided in this exhibit and know you have made a positive impact on our environment!

Why should we plant trees?

• Trees provide natural beauty and habitat for animals as well as food for humans and wildlife. 

• Trees combat climate change.  Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, storing the carbon while releasing oxygen back into the air. 

• Trees mitigate air pollution.  Trees absorb pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and ozone, and they filter harmful particulates by trapping them on their leaves and bark.   

• Trees help us conserve energy by providing shade.

• Trees reduce the amount of stormwater runoff, which reduces erosion and pollution in our waterways.  Trees also filter our water by removing pollutants and sediment from rainfall and then releasing the water back into underground aquifers.

• Trees can improve our mental and physical health.  Time in nature can correlate with a drop in anxious or depressed thoughts.