Pocono Plateau · Zone 6a · ~2,000ft

Restore Our Forest

The beech trees are dying. The gaps they leave are an opportunity. This guide — grounded in peer-reviewed research and field-tested recommendations — gives you everything you need to plant the right trees in the right places, whether you have an afternoon or a decade.

Open the Planner Choose Your Plan

What's Happening

The Forest Is Changing — Fast

American beech — historically the dominant tree in these Pocono Plateau forests — is dying from a double blow: Beech Bark Disease (endemic for decades) and a newly arrived nematode called Beech Leaf Disease, which kills infected trees in 2–5 years with no available treatment. There is no resistant variety. The beech component of this forest is functionally done.

Black cherry on many properties is also in decline from black knot fungus (Apiosporina morbosa), a chronic native disease that girdles branches with hard black galls and spreads every spring from wild chokecherry across the landscape.

If nothing is planted into the opening canopy, the gaps fill with red maple, hay-scented fern, and invasive shrubs. The diverse, multi-generational forest disappears. The good news: these gaps are an invitation.

Why act now?

🌳
Trees planted today will be standing in 2125. Species selection for climate resilience matters — source from southern PA ecotypes for trees adapted to future conditions.
🦇
Hickories need 50–70 years to reach bat-roosting size. Every shagbark planted today is habitat for the next generation.
🐛
Oaks support 500+ moth and butterfly species — more than any other genus. Every oak in a gap is immediate ecological value. (Tallamy & Shropshire 2009 →)
🌿
Natural regeneration handles most of the work — if you address deer, invasives, and light. Targeted planting fills the gaps management can't.

The Core Principle

Diversity is how forests survive

Every plan on this site plants across multiple species and layers — not for aesthetics, but because structural diversity is what makes a forest resistant, self-reinforcing, and capable of lasting.

🛡️

Disease resilience

A specialist pathogen spreads through its host. When any species is 5–10% of the canopy instead of 30%, the disease burns out before it travels. Beech, ash, and chestnut all collapsed because they were abundant enough to sustain transmission. A diverse forest has no such target.

🕸️

Underground networks

Trees in a healthy forest are connected by mycorrhizal fungi that transfer carbon, water, and nutrients between species. More species means more network connections. Seedlings planted near legacy trees tap into this system immediately — establishing faster and surviving drought better than isolated plantings.

🦋

Food web depth

Oaks support 500+ moth and butterfly species; cherry supports 450+. Almost all North American land birds raise their young on caterpillars — not berries. A diverse planting also staggers food resources across every season, from serviceberry in March to hawthorn berries in January. Tallamy & Shropshire 2009 →

The Approaches

Two Ways to Restore

The difference isn't how many trees you plant — it's whether you plant a complete diverse mix or only what the forest won't provide on its own.

Full Mix

Plant a complete, diverse forest

All ecological layers from the start. Scale to your budget — the same species mix works at every size.

~10 trees~$80–130 · one gap
~60 trees~$380–670 · ¼ acre
~350 trees~$2,300–3,300 · 1 acre

Enter your tree count — the planner calculates the rest automatically. Every scale produces an ecologically complete planting.

Learn more →

Management-First

Buy only what won't arrive in time

For 5–10 acre properties. Manage conditions first, then buy only hickories, conifers, and the species that won't come on their own.

5 acres~150 trees · ~$535–645
10 acres~260 trees · ~$805–915
Oaksdirect seed at $0

Individual tree protection and invasive removal do the heavy lifting. Plant in nucleation clusters — 59% forest cover achieved on 3% of site area in 19 years.

Learn more →
Use the Interactive Planner →

Before You Plant

Three barriers stop the forest from healing itself

Penn State research on 85 Pennsylvania forest stands found that deer alone are responsible for more than 85% of regeneration failures. Address all three barriers before spending a dollar on seedlings.

The C-D-L Framework →
C — Competing Vegetation

Invasive shrubs, hay-scented fern, mountain laurel. Treat the season before planting.

D — Deer Browse

One tube or cage per planted seedling. For properties under 50 acres, individual tree protection is the practical deer strategy. See the protection guide →

L — Light

Open gaps needed for most canopy species. Release legacy trees from competition with crop tree release.

What to Plant

Species that belong here

Every species listed is ecologically native to the Pocono Plateau at ~2,000ft. All have been validated against PA Flora, USFS Silvics, and current disease research.

Shagbark Hickory bark
Canopy

Shagbark Hickory

Critical bat roost habitat. Pre-settlement dominant. Takes 50–70 years to reach bat-roosting size — plant now.

 Sugar Maple fall foliage
Canopy

Sugar Maple

The primary replacement for dying beech on north-facing slopes. The gold standard of Appalachian fall color.

 Red Spruce
Conifer

Red Spruce

Native to this elevation. No natural seed source nearby — must be planted. North-facing slopes only.

 Pagoda Dogwood flowers
Understory

Pagoda Dogwood

The disease-free forest-interior dogwood. 40+ bird species use the berries. No anthracnose risk.
View All Species →