Trees, Glorious Trees

 Trees create shade, cool towns, soften neighborhood streets. They create fresh air for us, absorb heavy rains (and Co2), and prevent flooding in some cases.

Birds nest in them, feed off their nuts and flowers, flit from one to another or perch in them to sing their evening songs.

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What about us? Trees have children's swings hung from them and tree houses built in them; they create shade for our picnic table, provide lumber to build our houses, and produce fruit and nuts for us to eat. Even when I drive on busy streets, the tall trees nearby lift the eye up to the sky. That gives a lift. The sight of a flowering tree in the spring is a picture of beauty - takes the breath away.

When life becomes too busy, or troubled, watching the breeze lift the branches gives me my breath back.

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Imagine if we had no trees? Some places don't and life is very different.

Some years ago, when walking down a local street I passed a cottage with a full soft boughed fir tree at its corner. In front of this house on the strip of grass next to the street, the owner had planted a maple sapling, not more than 4 feet high. Was it going to take? Apparently, they kept it watered in its first two years. It grew steadily and now, about 10 years later it is a healthy, fully leafed out maple tree, reaching above the height of the telephone lines.

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Trees are easy to plant, but need water in hot and dry spells in summer. So consider taking care of one of them in your vicinity. Often they are overlooked. Towns need trees, parks also, country roads, city gardens. I used to think they were just there. I didn't expect them to change in size (surprise!). They can grow for hundreds of years- from a small twig to hundreds of feet high.

 

Last year millions of trees were planted in China. How about one for each of us here?  What if one town "adopted" another and shared its trees that were in the town nursery, left over from spring planting.  A late fall planted tree has a good chance of surviving.  

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It's a habit of mine to see a bare, open space along a street and think a tree would look nice there.  A few years later often there would be a tree growing there.

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So, here's to the trees!

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Until next time,

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Your Friends at Crossroads Farm