Tags
hug a tree!, Peter Wohlleben, trees are one of the most awesome and amazing things on this planet and I love them so much
I was so conflicted while reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Do I read it fast because it is so good, or do I read it slow because it is so good? It’s a good dilemma to have, wouldn’t you agree?
Wohlleben knows trees. He spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to manage a woodlands he is working to return to an old growth forest. By the sound of it, the trees manage themselves pretty well and it remains for the humans to just get out of the way.
I already appreciated trees when I began reading this book, I do not need convincing about how alive and important they are, that they are beings that talk and watch our lives go by at the speed of a blink. To them, we are like insects are to us, here one day, gone the next. A tree’s life is lived in the slow lane. As the Ents would say, don’t be hasty.
I quoted from this book on a Shout It Out Monday about how trees scream. They talk to each each as well, protect each other, mother the next generation. Trees it turns out are highly social and need community to truly thrive. They are also competitive, especially with other species of trees. And they can tell time, are capable of learning, have memories and may also experience emotions. Trees also know if you are near them and can tell if you are friend or foe.
Trees control climate and when there is a forest, they create their own ideal living conditions. Without coastal forests, the interiors of continents would be nothing but vast deserts. This is because rain falls within 400 miles of coastlines. If there is a forest there, the trees take up the water and then put it back into the air which then allows the water to be carried further inland.
All of this information makes a person see and think about trees in a new way. They are, after all, living beings, and just because they can’t move around like an animal doesn’t make them somehow lesser, unfeeling, or worse, objects. Here’s a thought for you:
When the logs in the fireplace crackle merrily, the corpse of a beech or oak is going up in flames. The paper in the book you are holding in your hands right now is made from the shavings of spruce, and birches were expressly felled (that is to say, killed) for this purpose… Not to put too fine a point on it, we are using living things killed for our purposes. Does this make our behavior reprehensible? Not necessarily. After all, we are also part of Nature, and we are made in such a way that we can survive only with the help of organic substances from other species… The real question is whether we help ourselves only to what we need from the forest ecosystem, and — analogous to our treatment of animals — whether we spare the trees unnecessary suffering when we do this.
So think about that next time you swing an ax at a tree. Or pound a nail in a tree, hang a hammock, hit a tree with something, pull off twigs or leaves for no reason. If the tree were a dog would you hit it? Would you pull out its hair or break its legs? Trees feel pain and just because they can’t snarl and bite you doesn’t mean that it is ok. Talk to trees, give them a pat or even a careful hug, sit beneath them and share their quiet company. Be a friend. You won’t regret it.
Have you ever seen the movie Elizabethtown? It’s a good movie, and there’s a line you’re reminding me of when the female lead talks about the “survivor tree” in Oklahoma City, saying something like this is my very favorite tree–and I love trees.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jeanne, I have not seen it, but now I think I probably should!
LikeLike
I am very curious to read this book now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you would really like it Jeane.
LikeLike
Us swing an axe at a tree? Never! Though, hmmm, we do prune them. Wah! What to do though when they behave in an unruly manner and get in our way. Still, Mr Gums is a more enthusiastic pruner than I am. I much prefer overall to leave them in their natural shape and duck if I have to.
I have some favourite trees, including one in Kosciuszko National Park that I photograph every time I do a particular walk there. It’s where I’d like my ashes scattered, though it would be a bit of an ask for my heirs. I’ll have to just make it a preference.
LikeLiked by 1 person
whisperinggums, yeah, I’ve had to prune my apple trees and I hate doing it. I always apologize and never manage to prune them as much as I am supposed to because I feel so badly about it.
Very cool about your favorite tree! I hope you get your final wish! One of the things that made me fall in love with Bookman was him taking me to see his favorite tree. The Encino Oak was over 1,000 years old and he would go visit it sometimes. Sadly the tree became ill and in 1998 it blew over during a big el nino storm. We were in Minnesota by then but when he heard the news he was pretty broken up about it.
LikeLike
Oh that’s sad. The loss of trees is always sad, but old big ones…that’s the worst. Which is different to people isn’t it. When a person dies old we think it’s sad but say they’ve had a good long life, but when a young person does is tragic. We feel the opposite about trees.
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh what a great observation about lifespans of humans and trees!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read this book some years ago, but had forgotten some of the points you mention. I think there is far more to trees than we realise – on the United Nations website, for example, it says that trees control the earth’s magnetic field, as they as conductors for electricticity between earth and sky. Deforestation is making the earth’s magnetic field weaker, with who knows what effect. Very interesting subject.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Michelle Ann, I agree! So much we don’t know about tress. They are hard to study since they can’t be taken into labs and their lifespans are so very long. But I am glad we are finally starting to pay attention and learn about how important they are. I had not heard about the magnetic field! That’s super fascinating!
LikeLike
I own a big chunk of woodland and wetland in Maine, near New Brunswick, Canada. I bought it to preserve it because I was angry at the rampant destruction of land in Massachusetts, all the new houses growing where trees used to. I let nature ‘manage’ herself on my land. I don’t think she needs any help from me. She’s smarter than I am and has been around a lot longer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Joan, oh that is so wonderful! I agree with you, Nature knows what she is doing and I think most of the time in our ignorance we do more harm than good.
LikeLike
I’m very bad at pruning things in my garden as I really hate to cut into them, I’ve always felt that plants have feelings. I’m in a queue for this book at the library, but I know it’ll make me even more squeamish about cutting back.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to walk through Joan’s woodland – even if only virtually!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pining, yes! I am too, not just my apple trees! I’m horrible at shrubs and roses as well and my raspberries which have run wild and I will have to regretfully really cut back this year before they take over everything. I would love to walk through Joan’s woodland!
LikeLike
This book sounds charming and persuasive… Such a happy review. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
ravingreader, thanks! It’s a wonderful book that left me marveling at what an amazing world we live in.
LikeLike
I am so far down the library hold list for this one that it’s disheartening (not that I am short of things to read of course). Would you say that it’s one you will likely reread, or is it a memorable reading experience that you don’t anticipate revisiting? (Code for: should I just buy it? But then, is it printed via trees too? AArgh.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
buried, Hmm, I doubt I would read it again, not because I didn’t love it, but because it seems there is so much research going on these days that within five years or so this will be dated. If you don’t want to wait your turn at the library you could always buy a copy and then pass it on to someone, share the love!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sounds intriguing, and also like it would be a perfect gift for at least a couple people that I know!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shay, it’s a fascinating book and I learned so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
In London they do some fairly brutal pollarding of the plane trees and when I walk along a road flanked by recently pollarded trees, it’s not a huge leap of the imagination to hear them screaming.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Victoria, I’ve never understood pollarding. I know it’s supposed to give trees a nice, dense crown and keep them compact but to me, it is unnatural looking and almost ugly. I can imagine the trees screaming too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. I hate it when they do it. It always seems incredibly brutal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve always throught they did it to fit big trees into small places – but why don’t they just plant small trees! Though, perhaps in some cases the places have encroached on the trees! But yes, I agree that pollarding is a sad looking business.
LikeLike
Yes! plant a tree to fit the space instead of making the tree fit. I suspect in some cases places have encroached but in my opinion the places should be made to fit the space! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This makes you rethink those paper books–which I hold in my hands with the utmost respect and say thank you to those trees! I can’t wait to read this and how serendipitous as it is waiting on the hold shelf for me–I hope to pick it up this weekend!
LikeLike
Danielle, I know, it made me feel a little guilty about books but we can have “humane” books. So cool the book is waiting for you! I hope you enjoy it!
LikeLike
I LOVE Trees!! I think trees and nature manage themselves very well, thank you very much! Its only when human’s interfere that problems come up! Trees with memories…imagine the kind of stories they could tell, if we could communicate with them!
LikeLike
cirtnecce, I know, the stories trees could tell. The trouble is we don’t seem to be able to slow down enough to listen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You read so much more science and nature than I do, Stefanie. I always intend to, but then fiction calls my name! This sounds really interesting, though. My son (being a typical rotten five year old boy) went through a “hit every tree in sight with sticks” phase, which I think we’re out of now. I winced every time he did it, and tried to tell him not to, but kids… Anyway, I do my best to talk about the different kinds of trees in our neighborhood and point out how beautiful they are, and how they provide us with oxygen and animals with homes. It makes me really sad whenever I see forests but down for roads or development. I think this book might make me sad – would it?
LikeLike
Laila, I love fiction too but sometimes I feel like all i want to read is science and nature stuff because there is so much to learn! I think hitting stuff is a phase many kids go through. Very cool that you talk to your about the different trees! You are teaching him well! I don’t think the book will make you sad, it is full of amazing things and he talks a lot about the forest he is tending and all he has learned from it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When we moved into our house behind our backyard there was just a tree-filled area. I loved looking out on to it and felt relaxed seeing the birds flying through, etc. Unfortunately the land owner sold the property and they’ve taken down a bunch of trees to build houses. I’m so upset. I think I should send a copy of that book to the builder!
LikeLike
Iliana, oh how sad! I hope they at least saved some of the trees.
LikeLike
Pingback: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben | Pining for the West