Fifth graders at Mattapoisett’s Old Hammondtown School made a huge impression on the local tree committee (of which I’m a member) with their entries in the annual poster contest. This year’s theme “If Trees Could Talk” brought out an array of inventive renderings from students in Greta Anderson’s art class, many featuring local landmarks and all focused on the importance of trees within a community. This is one of several events leading up to the Arbor Day celebration in our town with the raising of the Arbor Day Flag to commemorate the 18th year of participation in Tree City USA.
It’s fair to equate trees with youthful endeavors. I believe just about everyone has a tree story. It may be the quixotic childhood fantasy fulfilled, climbing so high your mom had to coach you back to earth. Or discovering the bliss of some arboreal labyrinth, memorizing its pungent aroma of pine or leafy extract. Child’s play is compatible with these natural structures, and our memories are inextricably linked to them.
We may no longer climb or bend trees, but we can recall every crisp detail of how it felt to be under their influence. Hopefully we still can have a moment or experience every once in a while, connecting to trees.
Allergies aside, we must admit that trees are magnificent in the whole scheme of things. Swelling buds announce nature’s annual metamorphosis as we head toward Arbor Day. The holiday sprouted out of a need to plant trees to improve soil structure and hence agricultural integrity.
In his book How to Plant a Tree, Daniel L. Butler documents the holiday’s roots: “In 1872 Nebraskan J. Sterling Morton set up a national tree planting festival, Arbor Day, which was targeted particularly at schoolchildren. The idea was an immediate success. By 1885 it was declared a legal holiday in Nebraska and other states quickly followed suit. The original aim was principally to improve agriculture by providing shelter and preventing soil erosion on the Great Plains. Over time, Arbor Day has become an environmental and conservation movement.
Today, this occasion, which is scheduled on the last Friday of April, is recognized as a day dedicated to preserving and appreciating trees. If you have been thinking of planting a tree now is a good time to do so. It may be to mark a moment of significance (a birthday, retirement or a new home) or just part of your horticultural agenda. Planting a tree is akin to putin’ down roots. It is a visual reminder of time’s passage too.
A few years ago, I revisited my childhood home, where my parents planted their first gardens while rearing their three children. Usually when you go back, things seem much smaller. But in this case the opposite was true. The place had the most magnificent trees, all of them planted by my father who’d bought the house on a blank lot, one of many in a subdivision built in the early 1960s. While clearing land for a new home – the one they presently live in – my father and older brother and several uncles spent months removing trees. Forty years later he’s probably replaced them in triplicate.
As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far, and I am now as passionate about trees as my father. They surround our home and even grow out of pots that live between house and patio and if there is ever a loss, the void is filled by a tree. When you live on a fairly flat lot, it adds dimension and brings in all sorts of wildlife.
When people ask me to recommend a tree for their yard, I tell them to do their research on things like soil preferences and how big you want said tree to grow and how fast. If you want to see the tree in your lifetime, you’re limiting your choices. I say go for posterity and plant for future generations. A marvelous tree that graces our front yard in the Seven Sons (Heptacodium miconioides), propagated in Beijing, China and cultivated at the Arnold Arboretum and recommended to us by Allen Haskell many moons ago when we were mapping out our landscape. It is glorious in all the seasons and the growth is fast and the branching graceful. We could not have chosen a better tree for the site which overlooks a patio.
If I had a few extra acres I would plant a Pagoda Tree, also known as the Chinese Scholar tree. This specimen always holds me spellbound for its shape and grandeur, first in Edgartown and then again at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. These are likewise Chinese imports. My husband credits the merchant sailing captains for many of Edgartown’s interesting trees, having brought specimens back from overseas. Captain Thomas MIlton brought the Pagoda Tree seedling from China (where it is known as a Flame Tree) to the Vineyard in the 1830s planting it next to his home, now part of the Harborside Inn. It’s the oldest on the continent and towers above several inns and homes.
Perhaps a more realistic choice brings me back to earth: a Mulberry tree. Red Mulberry is the only native to the U.S. The White Mulberry is the more exotic species that is home to silkworms. The red counterpart has a long fruiting period with fruit that is delicious, although it is not sold commercially. Moreover, this tree is a bird magnet and therefore a good tree to have.
Planting trees enhances life – at an emotional and physical level. Trees produce oxygen, store carbon, purify the air, absorb sound, cools us in the heat, reduce wind and erosion and help decrease energy costs and often add to a property’s value.
With more than 700 tree species in North America alone, it’s time we were on a first name basis with some of the major players. The Arbor Day Foundation offers several booklets and field guides, most notably the “What Tree Is That?” (164 pages) guide for identifying over 250 North American tree species. Other publications include the “Tree Board Handbook” for community forestry management and “Now is the Time for Trees” for planting, available through their online store.
“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.” Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies.
The Seaside Gardener
By Laura McLean