The Nature Coast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM at The Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd/US 41, Land O’ Lakes, 34639, between SR 52 and SR 54.

Nature Coast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society Meeting

The subject of the Tuesday, May 14, 2019, meeting is “Storm Readiness for Your Trees: Are You on TRAQ?”, presented by Belinda Lambert.  Mature, large, residential landscape trees are a source of many benefits to homeowners and wildlife, both on an individual scale (shade, nesting site, etc.) and on a larger scale (energy reduction, wind mitigation, increase property value).  Many large mature trees are removed either in advance of or in the aftermath of, a storm event.  This removal rate can be greatly reduced if proper planning and tree maintenance practices are adopted by the homeowner.  Additionally, being informed about the formal tree risk assessment process can help prevent homeowners from falling prey to the fear-mongering approach used by many unethical tree removal companies after storm events.

Belinda received her BSD in Forest Resources and Conservation from UF and her MS in Botany/Plant Ecology from USF.  She has been a member of FNPS since 1993, an ISA Certified Arborist since 1998 and has held the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) since it first became available in 2013.

Meetings of the Chapter are free, and all interested parties are invited to attend, to bring questions about their yard, and participate in light refreshments and the native plant drawing. Telephone inquiries are taken by Sandy at (727) 207-1853.

Chapter website: http://www.pasconativeplants.org.