If you’re like most well-intentioned gardeners, you might give a lot of thought to planting the “right” plants to nourish pollinators and other wildlife, with nectar, pollen, seeds and fruit. But have you given much thought to those animals’ habitat?

In addition to sustenance, beneficial insects and critters need a safe home in which to rest, hide, breed and pupate.

One area crucial to their lifecycles is around the base of trees.

“We talk about the importance of (native) trees in creating the caterpillars that drive the food web,” Doug Tallamy, entomologist and bestselling author of “Nature’s Best Hope” and “Bringing Nature Home,” told me the last time we spoke.

“But those caterpillars drop from the tree and they pupate in the ground. And how we landscape under those trees determines

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