I received the book, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben, as a gift. Shortly before I started to read it, I heard a horticulturist speak at the Iowa State University Virtual Shade Tree Short Course in February. That talk and this book have made me rethink how we place trees in the landscape and think of them as lonely, solitary beings when used this way.

The author is a forest manager in Germany. For many years he followed conventional forestry practices. His job was to assess oaks, beech, spruce, and pines for their use as lumber and to replace them with seedings. As Wohlleben began to have more contact with visitors to the forests, he noticed they were drawn to crooked, gnarled trees as opposed to ones with straight trunks. His love of the forest and nature coincided with research programs beginning about the same time to learn more about the lives of trees.

The book was exceptionally well-researched. I found myself turning to the back of book to look at the references. The book covers the many processes going on simultaneously in trees and in forests. These include the movement of water and nutrients through the trunks and roots that we have known about. What was new to me was how trees develop a community that creates and regulates an environment where they can thrive. Air temperature, humidity, and movement are affected by the nearness of trees to each other. This reduces stress, aids pollination, and creates a habitat for other living things including the fungi that play a large role in the network transmitting signals from one tree to another.

With climate change, the ability to form networks of sustainable habitat gives healthy forests a means to adjust to changing temperature and rainfall amounts. Our home landscapes with habitat gardens are resilient in the same way. I wonder if our native grasses and perennials communicate in a similar way. Wohlleben references a German article from 2016 when he writes, “Given this reciprocal relationship between trees and weather, forest ecosystems probably play an important role in slowing down climate change.”

Wohlleben gives trees human emotions and thoughts; the further I read the more plausible this became. He explains the growth of tree communities by describing their human need for cooperation. How many of us talk to the plants in our landscapes? I think, quite a few. Acknowledging this, the idea of trees talking to each other, offering help or asking for it in times of stress seems possible. After all, if we are speaking to our trees, we must be expecting a reply.