The quote for the title of this new set of blogs/posts is a phrase I heard someone say in conversation to their friend sitting on a park bench where I was also sat. The person who said it was explaining in a short, but carefully considered, answer to the question ‘why don’t you move house?’ It seems their accommodation was unsatisfactory and the neighbourhood no too good either. To me the three simple words said a lot, the local trees near the person’s house compensated for the negative location.
The issue as to whether trees are plants, the biggest plants we see, is apparently a contentious one; but it seems to me they are. Trees have stems (trunks), leaves, flowers and roots. It is, however, ironic that the largest plants (trees) often have the smallest flowers, in contrast to most cultivated plants were the flower is often the most conspicuous aspect of the plant. It is this time of year when the leaf-buds on trees are beginning to open out revealing the first green of the new leaves; the fact that this follows the spring equinox is no coincidence for it is the leaves that enable photosynthesis to take place, that is converting sunlight to sugars to sustain the tree.
Deciduous trees shed their leaves in winter because they would have little opportunity to photosynthesise in the dark season and the volume of leaves would make the tree more vulnerable in stormy weather; the logic of evolved Nature.
To return for a moment to the simple point about trees enhancing a locality – tree-lined streets look more interesting than if they were just bricks and mortar (especially as so few people do any planting in their front gardens these days). Trees also foster diversity in the locality of the street.
to be continued.