Trees Are People Too
He explains why adding fertilizer and soil amendments to a hole before planting a tree can actually harm it. Too much phosphorus, for instance, can actually inhibit rather than stimulate root growth. Too much light, rich compost essentially creates a bowl underground that will fill with water. He describes the harm inflicted by pruning a branch flush with the trunk of the tree (it unnecessarily damages tissue along the trunk); using sealant to “seal tree wounds” (trees don’t bleed and there is no evidence that it helps prevent infection); and piling mulch around the base of the tree (it harbors bacteria and fungi while encouraging the roots to grow up rather than down.) The best way to care for a tree, it seems, is to stand back and give it as little care as possible.
It’s a fascinating book, full of personal insights and the results of Gillman’s own research. The way he traces the lives of individual trees to help illustrate how trees move into old age and death helps remind us that, in fact, every tree is an individual.
You can find out more about Jeff Gillman at jeffgillman.net, and How Trees Die is available wherever books are sold.
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