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Trees Are Amazing
Have you hugged a tree lately? Trees are amazing plants that play a huge role in all our lives and in that of the planet. Take a moment to list all the benefits of trees that instantly come to mind.

Let’s start with the most basic. They clean and renew the air we breathe! Many of man’s activities release excess carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air. Trees clean the air by consuming CO2 and then augment this action with a little help from water and sunlight to produce the oxygen we breathe and the glucose, cellulose and starch necessary for the trees’ growth.

Can you count how many things that are a part of your everyday life and home that are made from wood? Furniture, tools, toys, floors, toothpicks, decks, fences and paper products make a good start, but the list goes on.

How about food? How many fruits and nuts come from trees? And then there is maple syrup. And how about medicine? Aspirin, for one, comes from willow bark.

Trees are a vital part of the Earth’s ecology. Individual species play a dynamic role in most of our varied environments. In fact, a single tree can be the basic support for a specialized environment that starts with bacteria, moves up to insects, on to birds and higher still to small mammals, then primates. Their individual parts play important specific functions: roots hold soil in place, preventing or at least slowing erosion. They channel water, distributing it over an area. Leaves also distribute water and slow its dispersal during a heavy rain. Leaves provide cooling shade and shade helps reduce energy consumption in the form of air conditioners.

When you plant a tree, find out about its natural habitat to learn the type of location in which it will grow best. Water it a few hours before you plant. Water again after it is in the ground. Don’t put anything in the bottom of your hole except a handful of dirt from the base of an old tree. Don’t make the hole too deep, but make it as wide as you like. Some trees, such as dawn redwoods or silver maples, like wet soils; but most trees like well-drained locations. Since our Virginia clay does not drain well, planting a tree on a slope or a bit high in the ground is a good idea. Do not plant the tree too deeply in the ground; the dirt should come no higher than where the roots flare.

Planting trees will not solve our gross environmental problems, but it is one small way an individual can contribute. And that individual will be rewarded every season and every year. All around the world people bond with trees. They go to national parks and forests to walk among them. They tie their poems and wishes into them. Babies stop crying at the sight of them. Less crime occurs in city streets where there are trees.

Francie Schroeder, Eastwoods Nursery
Eastwoods Nursery is committed to earth-friendly fertilizers and amendments and specializes in Japanese maples. The nursery offers more than 300 kinds of maples, a selection of ginkgo cultivars and unusual conifers.

Resources on Sustainable Farming
Virginia Cooperative Extension
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture “Every Family Needs a Farmer”
D.C. Central Kitchen is a great model, buying from local farmers and food auctions
Finding local farms
Eat Here — Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket by Brian Halweil
Omnivore’s Dilemma — A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
The Leopold Center at Iowa State University
The Crossroad Resource Center, Minneapolis
Chef Ann Copper: The Renegade Lunch Lady
Where does your food come from?

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