Arbor Day Reads

Pruning is one of the most important and least understood horticultural skills. Knowledge of proper technique and the needs of individual plants makes it possible to develop a strong framework and correct awkward, dangerous, or unattractive growth. Pruning can also help maintain or improve flower display and fruit production and ensure that your trees and shrubs will look their best year-round. Whatever your goal, Essential Pruning Techniques provides detailed descriptions of what to do - accompanied by step-by-step photos - and specific instructions for nearly 400 woody plants. Clear, comprehensive, and authoritative, this is a must-have volume for your garden library.--COVER.

Accompanying famed British nature writer Deakin through the woods of Britain, Europe, Kazakhstan, and Australia in search of what lies behind man's profound and enduring connection with trees. Deakin lives in forest shacks, goes "coppicing" in Suffolk, swims beneath the walnut trees of the Haut-Languedoc, and hunts bushplums with Aboriginal women in the outback. Along the way, he ferrets out the mysteries of woods, detailing the life stories of the timber beams composing his Elizabethan house and searching for the origin of the apple.

Trees are one of humanity's most constant and most varied companions. From India's sacred banyan tree to the fragrant cedar of Lebanon, they offer us sanctuary and inspiration--not to mention the raw materials for everything from aspirin and silk to space shuttles and telephone lines. In Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable. Stops on the trip include the lime trees of Berlin's Unter den Linden boulevard, which intoxicate amorous Germans and hungry bees alike, the swankiest streets in nineteenth-century London, which were paved with Australian eucalyptus wood, and the redwood forests of California, where the secret to the trees' soaring heights can be found in the properties of the tiniest drops of water. Each of these strange and true tales--populated by self-mummifying monks, tree-climbing goats and ever-so-slightly radioactive nuts--is illustrated by Lucille Clerc, taking the reader on a journey that is as informative as it is beautiful. --amazon.com.

The author repeatedly visits a dozen trees around the world to stop, listen, and look, exploring each tree's connections with webs of fungi, bacterial communities, cooperative and destructive animals, and other plants, and demonstrating how the lives of trees and people are deeply interwoven. Several trees, including a balsam fir in Ontario and an Amazonian ceibo, are located in areas that seem mostly natural, but which are affected by industrial development and climate change. Haskell also turns to trees in places where humans seem to have subdued "nature"--A pear tree on a Manhattan sidewalk, an olive tree in Jerusalem -- demonstrating that wildness permeates every location.

Introduces trees, describing such topics as leaves, flowers, fruit, cones, and bark and profiling the uniques features of ten common North American trees.

"Nature's largest and longest-lived creations, trees play an extraordinarily important role in our cityscapes, living landmarks that define space, cool the air, soothe our psyches, and connect us to nature and our past. Today, four fifths of Americans live in or near cities, surrounded by millions of trees, urban forests containing hundreds of species. Despite the ubiquity and familiarity of those trees, most of us take them for granted and know little of their specific natural history or civic virtues. Jill Jonnes's Urban Forests is a passionate, wide-ranging, and fascinating natural history of the tree in American cities over the course of the past two centuries. Jonnes's survey ranges from early sponsors for the Urban Tree Movement to the fascinating stories of particular species (including Washington, DC's famed cherry trees, and the American chestnut and elm, and the diseases that almost destroyed them) to the institution of Arbor Day to the most recent generation of tree evangelists who are identifying the best species to populate our cities' leafy canopies. The book examines such questions as the character of American urban forests and the effect that tree-rich landscaping might have on commerce, crime, and human well-being. As we wrestle with how to repair the damage we have wrought on nature and how to slow climate change, urban forests offer an obvious, low-tech solution. (In 2006, U.S. Forest Service scientist Greg McPherson and his colleagues calculated that New York City's 592,000 street trees annually saved $28 million in energy costs through shading and cooling, or $47.63 per tree.)"--Amazon.com.

Kingsbury describes ninety species of tree that collectively span the millennia of evolution and cross the globe. Organized into six categories, the trees are presented in short chapters that touch on botany, history, culture and more.

"As author Gene Logsdon puts it, 'We are all tree huggers.' But not just for sentimental or even environmental reasons. Humans have always depended on trees for our food, shelter, livelihood, and safety. In many ways, despite the Grimm's fairy-tale version of the dark, menacing forest, most people still hold a deep cultural love of woodland settings, and feel right at home in the woods. In this latest book, A Sanctuary of Trees, Logsdon offers a loving tribute to the woods, tracing the roots of his own home groves in Ohio back to the Native Americans and revealing his own history and experiences living in many locations, each of which was different, yet inextricably linked with trees and the natural world. Whether as an adolescent studying at a seminary or as a journalist living just outside Philadelphia's city limits, Gene has always lived and worked close to the woods, and his curiosity and keen sense of observation have taught him valuable lessons about a wide variety of trees: their distinct characteristics and the multiple benefits and uses they have. In addition to imparting many fascinating practical details of woods wisdom, A Sanctuary of Trees is infused with a philosophy and descriptive lyricism that is born from the author's passionate and lifelong relationship with nature:There is a point at which the tree shudders before it begins its descent. Then slowly it tips, picks up speed, often with a kind of wailing death cry from rending wood fibers, and hits the ground with a whump that literally shakes the earth underfoot. The air, in the aftermath, seems to shimmy and shiver, as if saturated with static electricity. Then follows an eerie silence, the absolute end to a very long life. Fitting squarely into the long and proud tradition of American nature writing, A Sanctuary of Trees also reflects Gene Logsdon's unique personality and perspective, which have marked him over the course of his two dozen previous books as the authentic voice of rural life and traditions"-- Provided by publisher.

"From the creators of the world's most trusted field guides--a go-to source for millions of nature lovers--comes a completely new and unparalleled reference work: the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date guide to the trees of North America. This master guide is the result of a collaboration between leading scientists, scholars, taxonomic and field experts, photo editors, and designers. An indispensable reference, it covers more than 700 species, with nearly 3,500 full-color photographs--including images of leaf shape, bark, flowers, fruit, and fall leaves. For ease of use, the book includes a glossary and a robust index, and is arranged according to the latest Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification system--with trees sorted by taxonomic orders and grouped by family, so that related species are presented together. Readers will appreciate the crisp detail of the photographs, range maps (reflecting the impacts of climate change), the physical descriptions, information on fruit, habitat, uses, similar species, and an important new category on conservation status. Essays by leading scholars provide holistic insights into the world of trees. Whether putting a name to the towering conifers spotted along a hike, or trying to determine which pesky tree is encroaching on the patio, readers will come to rely on this work of remarkable breadth, depth, and elegance. It is a must-have reference for the library of any tree-peeper, and is certain to become the number-one guide in the field"-- Provided by publisher.

Covers 825 species, including all the native and naturalized trees of the United States and Canada as far west as the Great Plains. Descriptions present details of size, shape, growth habit, bark, leaves, flowers, fruit, flowering and fruiting times, habitat, and range maps for native species, as well as specially commissioned artwork, up-to-date taxonomy and names, information on the most recently naturalized species, keys to leaves and twigs, and an introduction to tree identification, forest ecology, and plant classification and structure.

"In the tradition of Elizabeth Kolbert and Barry Lopez, a powerful, poetic and deeply absorbing account of the "lung" at the top of the world. For the last fifty years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north. Ben Rawlence's The Treeline takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, to meet the scientists, residents and trees confronting huge geological changes. Only the hardest species survive at these latitudes including the ice-loving Dahurian larch of Siberia, the antiseptic Spruce that purifies our atmosphere, the Downy birch conquering Scandinavia, the healing Balsam poplar that Native Americans use as a cure-all and the noble Scots Pine that lives longer when surrounded by its family. It is a journey of wonder and awe at the incredible creativity and resilience of these species and the mysterious workings of the forest upon which we rely for the air we breathe. Blending reportage with the latest science, The Treeline is a story of what might soon be the last forest left and what that means for the future of all life on earth"-- Provided by publisher.

In the bestselling tradition of Michael Pollan's "Second Nature," this fascinating and unique historical work tells the remarkable story of the relationship between Americans and trees across the entire span of our nation's history.

"A personal and scientific work on trees, forests, and the author's profound discoveries of tree communication"-- Provided by publisher.

"In an era of cell phone addiction and ever-expanding cities, many of us fear we've lost our connection to nature--but Peter Wohlleben is convinced that age-old ties linking humans to the forest remain alive and intact. Whether we observe it or not, our blood pressure stabilizes near trees, the color green calms us, and the forest sharpens our senses. Drawing on new scientific discoveries, The Heartbeat of Trees reveals the profound interactions humans can have with nature, exploring the language of the forest, the consciousness of plants, and the eroding boundary between flora and fauna. Wohlleben shares how to see, feel, smell, hear, and even taste your journey into the woods. Above all, he reveals a wondrous cosmos where humans are a part of nature, and where conservation is not just about saving trees--it's about saving ourselves, too."-- Provided by publisher.

Art Wolfe's immersive photos capture the wonder humans have felt about trees for millennia. From the biblical Tree of Life to the Native American Tree of Peace, trees have played an archetypal role in human culture and spirituality since time immemorial. An integral part of a variety of faiths-from Buddhism and Hinduism to Native American and aboriginal religions-trees were venerated long before any written historical records existed. Through the vivid images of legendary photographer Art Wolfe, Trees focuses on both individual specimens and entire forests, and offers a sweeping yet intimate look at an arboreal world that spans six continents. Author Gregory McNamee weaves a diverse and global account of the myths, cultures, and traditions that convey the long-standing symbiosis between trees and humans, and renowned ethnobotanist Wade Davis anchors the text with a penetrating introduction. Humans have always shared this planet with trees, and Trees by Art Wolfe is a breathtaking journey through and homage to that relationship and its past, present, and future.