Yesterday I was watering one of our young trees and I realized that I was standing in its shade. I suppose that doesn’t mean much until you consider that the tree has only been here for a little over three years. It was a spindly little thing, barely as tall as me when our friend and neighbor first brought it to us, but I was very excited to receive it. Trees are so important to our environment! They provide a strong foundation for landscaping, help keep everything cooler, and provide food and shelter for countless critters. This particular tree was harvested from the nearby woods and as I said, wasn’t very big or strong, probably due to crowding in its natural location. Now it is lush and healthy and reaching for the sky.
We’ve added a dozen trees to the yard since we moved in. We don’t have a lot of money so we purchase baby trees and “clearance” orphans. We got some “free” trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. We even planted one tree from seed. Of course we’ll have to wait patiently for most of them to grow large enough to support a bird’s nest or cast a very large shade, but they are all worth the wait. And I enjoy watching their progress.
I found a couple of photos to share with you that were taken at my grandmother’s house. We planted our Christmas tree in her yard one year because we knew we would more than likely move sooner than she would. It proved to be a wise decision because as you can see it grew into a beautiful tree.
I don’t understand why more people don’t plant trees. I’ve heard all the excuses, from “I don’t know what to plant” to “they’re too expensive” to “I don’t want to take care of it”. So I found a site that lists twenty reasons to plant trees. Please visit One Million Trees and at least read the list. It might convince you to plant a tree.
Have a shady day!
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