Photo Credit: TreeNewal
By Deacon Tom Cervone, Ph.D. and Michael Cervone, B.S.
Our Planet Earth
Editor’s Note: Our website https://ourplanetearth.eco encourages all children of God to act with “Care for Our Common Home.” It’s also a resource on https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/ and https://ourcommonhome.org/
Introduction
Would you like to plant trees, or do you have seedlings coming up in yard? Or do you use others to plant trees? Or would you like to collect tree seeds and plant them? My yard has a large sassafras which was damaged in a windstorm a few years ago. Ever since it was injured, seedlings have been coming up all around it. I’ve let these seedlings grow because their roots absorb water, and they will act as a visual barrier, absorb carbon dioxide, provide shade, add oxygen, and help keep my property cooler from ever higher temperatures to come.
But do all these seedlings mean the mother tree is dying? I thought so, but since it still looks healthy, it’s probably just a response to the tree being injured. If this is the case, how special is this survival value which is good for my property as long as trees are not too close to my house. I’m looking to create a forest on my property that will shade our house. The less solar radiation hitting my house adds shade and will help keep constant temperatures inside our home. With temperatures rising, such a goal will help keep my home more insulated, along with other proposed improvements, like internal shade double-pane windows. Our recent energy bill confirmed for the first time that our energy use is on the level of efficient homes.
If you do not have seedlings sprouting, you may want to plant trees or collect tree seeds and grow them for planting yourself. There are many resources to help you choose the right tree for the right place, and at the end of this article, there is a YouTube video on why planting trees is important. Throughout the year, many trees die, and we need to replace their function and value with other trees. This is so important now, especially since the current federal government does not appear concerned about global warming or climate change. What we do today is for our children’s and grandchildren’s future, so they can have as lovely a world as given to us.
If you are planting trees to connect forest patches, understand that by increasing the size of the forest edge will increase the size of the forest core. This is very important concept to increase not only the size of the total forest, but in protecting core forest habitats that afford homes for many sensitive species, especially birds. Similarly, we could plant forests in bottom land areas in farmland that have proven through years to lose crops from flooding. Trees would also protect river ecosystems from bank erosion and further degrading of water quality in rivers and downstream areas, such as where rivers enter large bodies of water.
What Can You Do?
✓ Use volunteer seedlings. On your property, you could wait for volunteers to grow up, and keep as many as you so choose. Make sure the ones you keep are a reasonable distance from each other, and keep them a safe distance from your home. There is no cost in this measure, and their roots will absorb water and keep water flowing over ground to your downhill neighbors property. Let nature help you solve water problems, and in the process, have a beautiful forest made for your use and the use of many plants and animals.
✓ Plant seedlings or saplings. You may do this or you may hire a contractor. Shade trees are good since they have a good-sized leaf blade that will take in more carbon dioxide, give off more oxygen for us to breathe, and give more shade. The sugar maple and tulip are two examples of moderate and a fast growing trees respectively. Both are great shade trees.
✓ Collect tree seeds. Seeds can be taken from existing trees on your property and grown in soil in small cups and when they are a foot or so in height, you can then plant them in the ground on your property. You may want though to place a protective wrap around their stem so rabbits, deer, and other animals may not harm these young seedlings. You could also give such seedlings away or even charge for them. This is a great way for you and your children to make extra money or just create good will in the community. Maybe add such seedlings to any lemonade stand for the children?
✓ Have a company like Arbor Day Foundation plant trees. Many people pay for trees to be planted by Arbor Day Foundation in memory of loved ones who have died. These trees will grow and help the earth and mankind, and with all the wildfires lately, they could be used in a “Forest of Greatest Need.” Many people like the fact that trees planted in memory of someone helps leave a memory of them for many years to come. And with the trees growing each year, the memory just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Once again, we need to think of our legacy, and planting trees is one way of leaving a better world.
YouTube on Planting Trees:
Quote:
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” - Nelson Henderson, Farmer
Tom Cervone, Deacon and PhD, is the founder, and Michael Cervone, B.S., is the programmer and designer of the “Our Planet Earth” website. We also thank others for their earlier help in developing this website.
Comments may be directed to ourplanetearth.eco@gmail.com Thank you!