The first three years, especially the first, are the most critical to tree saplings as they don’t have a developed root system to gather water, ward off pests, avoid being trampled or damaged.

We lose the benefits mature trees provide when we replace them with vulnerable saplings that can only replace a mere fraction of the amount of oxygen production, carbon storing, cooling, storm water drainage, soil retention, etc. that is provided by mature trees.

If our region wants to seriously plan for climate change, we need to be protecting a lot more trees and planting more with adequate soil depth and maintenance.

“If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence

we could rise up rooted, like trees.”

This poem, from Joanna Macy’s book World as Lover, World as Self, is a translation of a poem by Rainer Maria Rilk, considered one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets of the early 1900’s.