Beau Brodbeck, an Auburn Extension Specialist focusing on urban forests, offers a step-by-step guide on tree planting to minimize the impact on wildlife. He focuses on educational outreach and developing programs and publications for the forestry and urban forestry communities in Alabama. His research has addressed human dimensions of urban forest management and migrant labor.
Planning and caring for wildlife trees is crucial for protecting the environment and the diverse wildlife that depends on it. Trees provide shelter, and pruning can help mitigate the need for fungicides. Tree canopies should be pruned just enough to allow sunlight and air movement to dry the understory and water deeply the day it is planted.
Dr. Beau Brodbeck will present the best tree selections for fall color in the landscape and discuss wind resilient trees and design considerations for wind resilience. He will also help you learn about what trees to grow, how to plant and care for them, and which invasive trees to remove from your land.
For new plantings, it is important to choose tree species that fit each site’s space, sunlight, and soil requirements and use the best planting and maintenance practices. Proper watering is essential, as frequent shallow watering encourages shallow root growth, which is more susceptible to drought.
In summary, Beau Brodbeck’s guide provides step-by-step procedures for planning, planting, and caring for trees, addressing the human dimensions of urban forest management and migrant labor. By following these guidelines, individuals can help protect the environment and the diverse wildlife that depend on it.
📹 How trees talk to each other | Suzanne Simard
“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led …
📹 How To Grow Passion Fruit on a Fence | 1 YEAR UPDATE on our “Frederick” PassionFruit – WOW!
When I planted our “Frederick” passion fruit to cover our chain link fence, I NEVER imagined it would do as well as it has.
I’m reminded of the forest in Avatar, and it’s complexities and sentience. Brilliant talk, and researcher. thanks. All my life I’ve loved trees. I’ve had a connection with them my whole life. Their whispers carried in the wind, sometimes I like to think, their laughter, as well. There is magic in trees, very old forgotten magic and if we listen quietly, with reverence, they’ll awake it in us as well.
I lived on the island of Penang for years. Much appreciation and respect for all life. Illegal to cut down a tree, no toxic pesticides, weed killers, cleaning products. No homeless people, a great respect for personal diversities, animals. A different way of living. All of life is connected. Cooperation vs. competition. Namaste.
Trees have souls. They’ve been living for millions of years, and that’s because they share, they care and they cooperate and they’re amazingly helpful to other organisms. They’re the producers; the food pyramid starts from them, they’re the ones other organisms eat up, but they’re the only one living this long and peacefully.
Very fascinating. I chose to watch this article because my house is right next to a nature park full of trees where I walk my dogs. A few weeks ago, the city chopped down one of the trees because a neighbour was complaining that its branch was interfering with his backyard. Such a drastic measure for such a minuscule problem. Now every time I take my dogs to the park, I see the trunk where that tree stood. It’s very sad, and wondered if the other trees around it also miss it. Now I know, Thank you Suzanne.
this i true. Trees communicate to each other. The year when my mom in law passed away, all the trees in her garden seemed to mourn too. That year, her Japanese Cherry Blossom did not bloom, her plums, apple and cherry trees bear not single fruit. It made me convince that they might be sad too. who knows.
I have a 20 yr old indoor Norfolk Pine tree who I tremendously adore. She stands in a window, my neighbors thought she was fake, meanwhile, I’d never been a green thumb (but I want to be because now I know better.) I did know to give her love and attention besides water, play music for her and talk to her using loving compliments (and bigger Pots as the years went by. ) the love and energy I get from her (named her Heather, out of the blue) is so pure and bright. Jam packed with unconditional love. My love for her is the same. It’s a beautiful world because nature is exquisite. and like another commenter wrote: it’s completely free.
I would really like to thank you for your article. I grew up in up state NY back in the 1980’s. It was north of Malone in an area known as Trout River, NY. I grew up on a farm and used to talk a lot to the older people from the area, who were then in their 70’s, about the area. One of the things that I heard was how the woods were awesome and full of great big healthy trees. Howerver, on our 120 acre farm land, the trees were just kind of average and today’s termonalgy would call the woods a second generation forest. I remember hearing some old timer’s talking about how there used to be Patriarch and matriarch trees that would communicate with the woods and keep bad brush out like it was the flu. How they would deliver nutrients and chemicals as medicine to fight disease and attack. How the woods looked spectacular and very different from the wetland swampy look it had in the 1980s. I also remember being on Patrol (US Border Patrol) on the St. Lawrence River) and seeing tree stumps that have been cut many years, under water about 12 feet or more in diameter! I couldn’t believe my eyes… I understand that the trees and woods and forest interact the way we and our immune systems, / parenting, ect…. When we just went and cut all the big “Mother and Father” trees down, we took out the guardians and all of the little one were more susceptible to sickness and disease… There is more to the system of life on this Earth, and I know it to be true. If we were to love and respect all life and understand ourselves to be stewards of this Earth.
The earth is an ecosystem and human activity lacks the understanding of the impact of over harvesting resources has on global sustainability of the planet. This article emphasizes the problem in a microcosm. Strip any one element from the system and you can erode the entire system to our species detriment. Very good presentation TED, thank you.
I haven’t had time to view this article yet but just from the title, I had an experience about 1971 that changed my life: I was hitchhiking from SaNta Barbara to Canada for the first time. On the way, I was picked up by a man who took me and some other hitchhikers to Bothell wash. So I could spend the night and cross the border the next day. That night everyone was talking and I slipped out to go for a walk and get some peace and quiet. I had never seen such tall pine trees in my life before! I could see inside the trees, the water and sap moving. I could tell they were very young trees comparatively. Then when a car would go by they reacted with great sorrow and were trying to tell me this; The cars were toxic to them so were making them sad… I had never experienced anything like this before, although I had heard about cleve Backster & his experiments with plants.. This really change my life! Many years later I talked to Julia butterfly on her cell phone when she was up in her tree, I told her about this experience. I feel so happy that I can communicate with trees now, we can learn to hear them if we just listen. It reminds me of a line in an early Joni Mitchell song. And a line in the poem I wrote when I was young: ” The ocean spoke up, from the bottom of the floor, the tree branches nodded, knowing the score.”
This is absolutely magical to my heart right now ❤️ I’ve been deeply moved and healed by learning about the necessity of human connection, and how without it, we struggle and our bodies physiologically go into stress mode- the signal is the feelings of loneliness! Nature is magnificent and always teaches us how we can live and connect and love more richly; we just have to slow down enough to receive its magical lessons 🥰
Trees give awesome hugs; from the Loblollies of Assateague MD to the Redwoods of Northern CA. The caress on your face from their bark. Feel the heartbeat from Mother Earth that comes through the roots and emanates through their trunks. Listen to the song they sing when a breeze blows through their leaves and pines. We breathe in what they breathe out and vice versa. Love a tree. Hug a tree.
I got interested to watch this article out of an experience I’ve had with a tree not-in-a-forest, but in my own yard. It is a big fig tree. For 50+ years there was nothing note-worthy, but since the next-door neighbour started cutting out (big) branches of the tree, before I realized what had happened, small fig trees had started sprouting all over the garden … I assume that the original tree has felt threatened and began spreading (whatever it was) around, so as to ensure its survival! Yes, plants & trees do understand much more than we can ever imagine! Great job you’re doing, Suzanne Simard! Keep it up, as it is so much needed, especially in our times! Blesss you!!
Suzanne Simard, fellow Canadian: thank you for all your love & work of the trees! 13:44 confirms what I know at an intuitive level as an energy healer. Over the years I’ve often been called by local forests that have recently been clear cutted. What I discovered is that trees go into shock because they become cut off & discombobulated from each other as a result of the majority of Grandmother & Mother trees being cut. As an energy healer I walk through the forest transferring energy & consciousness to the remaining trees until they reach a state of energetic symbiosis, at which time I know the lines of communication between them are open. And yes, the forest, the trees quickly recover, even faster when they receive energetic assistance. I often return a year later to forests that I’ve helped and have discovered that not only are they communicating once again, they are thriving. Thankfully Life is tenacious.
related to living trees/plants – Archie Fire Lame Deer taught me that when gathering wild plants and trees he would say – “Never touch the Mother and her 7 daughters.” – – – this teaching was / is paramount for me. when gathering herbs I find the mother and her daughters and gather further out – – –
My Mother grew up in B.C. and missed her forests and mountains her entire life! Oh, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!……………and HATE the LUMBER industry. You are a HERO. for the TREES, for the Mother Bears, for Canada, for all the Creatures impacted by this horrific and senseless abuse of NATURE…….for my MOTHER’S VOICE…..I AFFIRM YOU and every SOUL you are changing…to HEAR the Trees SPEAK. THANK YOU for advocating for THE SPIRITS in OUR WoodLands and every other ecosystem across the world. You made me CRY……really HARD and LONG………I will remember this beautiful and precious TED Talk…..as one of the BEST, EVER.
More than a call to nurture forestry resilience. An inspiring presentation to learn how a complex systems work. Also food for thought to better understand how our human community could streghten its own resilience caring the natural envirnonment. Learning from nature. Messages of wisdom. Thanks Susanne for your passion and persistence.
Such an amazing talk. Since I was a little girl being raised in the beautiful mountains of NW Colorado, I was always in the forest. I was constantly interacting with the trees around me, I realized that they all had there own distinct personalities. I was and still an very protective of them, of all trees everywhere. They are amazing conscious entities that grow to be very wise! I pray that more people everywhere, become more aware of these facts. Human beings need to realize that in fact, it is the trees that make it possible for us to live and to breathe! 💜🙏🏻🌳🌲🌴🦋
what an enlightening piece. she is brilliant….there is a desperate need for more crazies like her so that we can better understand our world and do a better job of managing it, which i believe is our solemn duty as custodians of this planet. right now we are moving rapidly on a destructive path 🙁 the earth and trees/plants are living, intelligent beings. it’s immediately required that some of us stop labeling this knowledge and reality to be fake news!
This might sound strange to some but I have a favorite tree friend. It was in my grandmas 2 acer yard in Moses Lake WA (desert country turned farmland). She wanted it to die back so she could extend her garden the tree made it hard for other plant to grow. She cut away at the root but it kept growing strong. She decided to change the soil around it to see if that would make it die back. So loads of sand were mixed into the soil as more roots of the tree were chopped away at. Naturally the base of the tree became my sand box when I was a toddler. I loved being near the tree, hearing the moans it made when the wind blew. At times I really wondered if I could feel its soul trying to communicate with me. I honestly felt like the tree loved me and the whole earth. It was the tallest tree for miles. My best guess is about 150 birds made it home. It reminded me of a big city with all the nose and commotion of bird and insects that lived there. My grandma gave up the garden idea and built a tool shed around the tree trunk. When I was an adult I asked my mom if she thought trees had personalities and if she had a favorite tree. She did and it was that very special tree. Eventually time took its tole. My grandma was too old to live at the house, the shed build around the tree fell to pieces and my cousin moved into grandmas house. Not sure when it happened but the tree got cut down about and became 3 foot stump. The tree still had life in her and several branches grew out of the stump looking like wild hair.
I have always had a thing for trees! I not only notice them but I admire them! I’m always taking pictures of them! I seem to be the only one around me who notices when a tree is heart-shaped or has a cool trunk. There is so much wisdom Olin trees and collective consciousness as well! Thank you for this article!!
This was magnificent, she captured my heart right away. Even though I didn’t know all the scientific verbiage, it didn’t take away my understanding and my joy of it. To see that standing ovation is telling too! I am in the midst of studying telepathy, and I’ve discovered that trees do communicate in more ways than stated here, but she had to curb it due to skepticism being alive and well. I loved this talk from Ted. I see I’m late to the game but I’m going to see what she’s up to since this talk. People like her are great for our Mother Earth. And the crowd that stood clapping enthusiastically gives me hope that more humans will start looking at the animals, trees, plants, birds, rocks, insects, bodies of water, fishes and all the rest in a more loving and respectful way. P
I live in the middle of one of the forest burns on Oregon Coast. My place didn’t burn but many trees and homes around me did. Now the mountain side is overrun with loggers cutting burned and partially burned trees down. Two huge Douglas Firs about 150 ft from my house were cut down in the past few days. It broke my heart and I imagined the other trees around crying as they watched their old friends fall 😞
I found this ted talk a few months ago and recently two ecologists here in NZ have just found nutrient connections between trees from a native species, the kauri tree. They found a stump which by rights should have been dead but is being sustained by its’ neighbours. Not only is this amazing and confirmation of the findings of Suzanne’s work, this could provide another vector for transmission of kauri dieback disease which is threatening this species.
Today, Suzanne’s new book breaks into the New York Times bestseller list at #4! Finally. “Finding the Mother Tree” has arrived and the United States welcomes Suzanne’s lifetime of work. 🤩 Very cool, as Suzanne says! Complexity science has arrived to help us understand how to cope with the challenges facing us.
Thank you. My husband and I live in the Broughton Archipelago BC. We caretake a small island in winter and cruise the summers. I have become a land dweller again of sorts. We live on the boat and explore the forest around us. By living aboard, we can gently and respectfully live and enjoy the woods. Your talk is inspiring and your work essential for future generations to respect and understand these green worlds all around us. 💚🌲
For some reason, I have forgotten how much forests and the natural world have always fascinated me growing up. I used to watch nature documentaries, listen to, and read about the works of scientists, ecologists, and conservationists. I would be fascinated by their discoveries and ponder on the awesomeness of nature and I would think of what I would do at the level I can to help preserve nature. I am glad to have stumbled upon this article and thank you for sharing your works. It really brought back the good old memories.
I just saw your TEDx article. Great information to have. I have always loved Trees on multiple levels. I knew there was always more to Forests than Trees and your information today is a keeper for the future. Thanks for all the hard work you and your staff do for Trees, this Planet and for all the inhabitants that live here. A.
I am seeing this for the first time in Jan 2020. This is a fantastic awakening for me. I am committed to the preservation of our forests. I begin, now, by stepping outdoors into what I call the “hundred acre wood” surrounding the complex in which I live. My soul connection with this forest has been enlightened by the information presented in this article. I feel deeply appreciative for Suzanne’s dedication to the health and well being of all that is, i.e. the natural world. I’ve been called a ‘tree hugger’. Well, I have news for you, trees are people huggers who love and respond to our honoring touches!
My friend said a tree was speaking to her. . . I said this was a silly practice. . . You should always get a 2nd opinion, so should listen to at least two 🙂 Seriously. . . This vid is amazing. Thanks for your work, and your TED talk, for this really interesting account of the effort and end results (after grissly bear fend-off). x
Absolutely amazing.. everyone of us in this world especially one’s like myself grew up in rural area .. all we did as our youth was climb and build tree houses and never feeling so safe up high. We have that bond and we all should try and build a friendship with at least one tree .. its amazing feel very blessed for perusal this 🙏
I want to give a “thumbs up” for all the comments of this article, because I see other people are thinking like me, and this is so encouraging! But comments are so many…!! Please consider I am giving all your comments a “thumbs up”! Again thank you Suzanne Simard! Let your work inspire more researchers all around the world! 💚
Thank you Suzanne. A critical sharing of tree reality. Wouldn’t it be great if we could take this forest community relationship understanding and transfer it into how we practice URBAN forestry so we start enabling those underground connections rather than isolating species and leaving a very social entity completely segregated, deprived of the associations essential to all their well-being and ours.
I never cut the trees in my backyard and when we were selling the house the real estate agent told us we should cut the trees in my backyard, I said absolutely not. When someone buys the house I told the agent they can do whatever they want but I will not cut down any tree. Months later I had visions that the trees at my old house had gifted me my new home for protecting them. I meditate and talk to trees. They have old wise souls. If we truly knew how sacred they are they could share amazing secrets that would blow our minds away. I was once in a trance and touched a random tree in the middle of a forest. I couldn’t explain what was happening but as I touched it I saw a giant nail in it. It intuitively asked me to remove that nail and I did. I wish the world would protect all trees they have great powers and wisdom and gifts.
I appreciate the science and experiments in this article and love being educated about Mother Nature. I live right next door to the Olympic National Forest and surrounded by trees. I am amazed at the underlying support I see with the trees. When the roots are exposed, the roots seem to keep growing sometimes over rocks. I have a picture of this root sustainable system. I also see the clear cutting and it makes me sad, and hope they do it in a way that is supportive. I love communicating with nature, thinking that Mother Earth gives us everything we need if we establish and ground our own information highway. She holds us in Her bosom awaiting our return to Her time and time again.
As a child, I thought I understood the language of the trees. I used to talk to it all the time. Me. The sun. And the Tree. I remember that the tree and sun would always fight. Arguing about whose language was older. I thought them funny as we played scrabble. All 3 of us. PS: “I M so glad that there are PEOPLE like you. And happy that I found someone just like me. I’ve been searching. It gets lonely, but you UNDERSTAND.”
I owned a house in the country. I was painting the inside, the smell was so bad I had to sleep in my car. At about 2 or 3 in the morning I was awakened by a loud noise like a motor. I said to myself I’m in the country why & where is this noise coming from. On my property there are very large trees, which I was sleeping next to. I got out of the car, at the base of one these beautiful trees was a small hole about the size of your thunb, I listen and down that hole was where this noise was coming from. They were busy doing something.
Hi Suzanne, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE‼️ We need more people like you to spread the word‼️ I did cry at the end of this article because it’s sad that we are all so distracted with the “stuff of the human world”. Nature is the most massive miracle here on this planet and if we don’t wake up and come out of our haze of money making at all costs, making wars (we can’t even get along with our own species❗️), material consumption, poisoning the planet with huge quantities of chemicals, clear cutting, corporate farming, killing off animals at an alarming rate, plastic consumption and pollution, etc. etc., etc. ….we are going to find ourselves in a dark world where there are just human beings with the “man made technology and stuff” where there soon will be no clean water, air, land. We’re kind of there already. What other planet do we know of that has the basics like oxygen and water for life to survive⁉️ This planet could survive so much better without humans. We need to use the system the trees use by cooperating and compromising with each other and our world. We are not the only species here, we just act like it. I get very discouraged by our selfish ways…I hope with people spreading the word, and also very importantly, humans must evolve into a kinder and more compassionate species so that we will firstly be able to work with each other, more lovingly and peacefully in our own lives. AND THEN we will be able to SEE the downfall of our extreme obsession for humans lives to flourish, when all the other forms of life on this planet are disappearing.
The second time you hear something new seems to solidify it in your mind. This is the second time, even possibly the third time. This is evidence of an intelligent Creator if ever there was one. I’m so glad this speaker had such an attentive grandfather. Dads and granddads are so important and yet we too often brush them aside. Good job Granddad of Suzanne!
You are my HERO, THANKS4GIVING from all of us that practice Earth Science appreciate all of your hard your material will spread a new wave of appreciation for our magnificent planet. We need a major PARADIGM SHIFT in how we move into the future, time is running out. We need to learn how to be better ADVOCATES of this planet.
The thing that annoys me about many of the explanations in the article is that it’s way too plant-centric, and makes it seem like fungi are just inert wires through which plants communicate. Fungi are very much active partners in the relationships. In fact, it actually makes more sense to say that the fungi are sort of managing the forest by using the surplus from certain trees and investing it in other trees so that they have a steady supply of carbon (sugars) throughout the year. Even the mother-daughter tree thing can be explained by what benefits the fungus. It makes sense to invest more resources on the daughters of the trees you already know are compatible with you (since you already have a relationship with them). It doesn’t make as much sense to say that the trees are somehow making the fungus preferentially allocate its resources to the tree’s relatives, since that would imply that the tree somehow knows not just which trees are connected to the fungus, but that it somehow knows the genetic makeup of the other tree …. THROUGH the fungus. And not only that, but then the tree somehow has to “convince” or “coerce” the fungus to do its bidding. That just makes no sense.
Thankyou so much for this x. I have long time thought and felt communication between everything natural happens. I Love trees, being amongst them and beside them just makes me feel good and balanced. You delivered your lecture with sensitivity,— science and intuition. The bringing together is so important I feel, giving irrefutable proof to doubters who still see the physical world as all there is! Lesley xx
Without a doubt she is a real scientists with big heart, and knowing that the trees communicate between them, ancient knowledge, all in our blessed world are alive, in peace, only egotistical humans destroyed the entire planet, is our duty,defend the mother earth, and references to this scientists with all my heart thanks for talking with relevant essential,words about trees …
Absolutely brilliant information obtained by a real scientist/botanist and lover of nature – how long before some ‘nerp’ in politics catches-on and does something about saving this planets biodiversity. Wondeeful data Suzanne – keep at it and propagate this knowledge worldwide on every occasion communications allows……
Great article. When I was 10, I was admitted in an Isolation Hospital, in an iron lunge. on the first floor . I had polio. I was not allowed any visitors. In front of me was a mirror facing the window . I could not see anything but a tree. I have always loved trees, I now go wild camping into the forest amongst the tree’s. Just love them . Never knew they talked to each other. until a friend of mine told me only 1 year ago. We both go to the forest now. camping. Great article. loved this talk. Thank you.
I knew it! They do talk! Yaaaay Every now and then I meet a real tree hugger and I love talking about my personal relationship with trees. I would like to share my most significant. It started when I was a little girl, growing up in Michigan. Maybe 5 years old. But first…hello across the Detroit River to our Canadian neighbors – we love you – be patient with us – we’ll get ourselves straightened out and be good neighbors again 😉 We have lots of “woods” all over the state. National Forests too, but woods are everywhere. As soon as I was old enough to find my way home I would go off by myself to the nearby woods. I laid on the ground, too and I believed the trees were talking to each other. And they knew I was there and I was a friend. They were definitely my friends just as much as Dr. Suess’s Thing 1 and Thing 2. That was why I had to go alone. They liked it quiet. We listened to the critters talk to each other. Birds, squirrels, all sorts of insects. As a teen I’d take a book. Or homework. Around 7 years old I got to plant 2 fir trees in our front yard. They were about 12 inches tall. I babysat those guys. One was weaker and stayed smaller because my dog kept lifting his leg on him. He caught up. 30 and 40 and 50 years later I’ve visited them and they are huge! You have to put your neck all the way back to see their tops. Another big thrill was when I went to college as an adult in my 30’s. I had to take Biology as a requirement. I loved it! It was the first time I learned about the oldest tree in the world.
I had a supremely connecting experience some years ago after an intense yoga class/weekend. After shivasana (relaxation pose/corpse pose) I unfolded to moving into postures and poses that lasted a long time. It just was and I knew exactly what to do without any instruction or prior knowledge. Then when I went outside, the trees… my the trees! were bowing to me and I was bowing to them, one by one then in unison they bowed, they saw me – I saw them, they knew me – I knew them, it was such a sacred and blessed time and it lasted days. I actually drove like that with all the trees along the road seeing, knowing, bowing in recognition that I was alive and they were too, seeing and knowing in their way. I saw, I knew, things. When some snow fell each snowflake almost introduced themselves to me, things had slowed down so much. The snowflakes were joyous, almost singing wheeee. Everything was just as it should be and meant to be and there were messages al over the place, plain as plain could be if we just tune in. It was quite the experience. (I was not on anything 🙂 in case you are wondering. It all came about naturally from within my heart and my being from the universe or whatever you like to call that. One message please ….we must not trash our planet. We MUST reduce plastics NOW. We are doing so much damage and plastic makers are damaging our planet, we have glass, we have, paper, we have metals. We DO NOT NEED ALL of these single-use plastics WHATSOEVER. Plastics are toxic, they pollute and kill our environment our fish and animals are in us and in our sacred waters.
I live next to a park and after a storm a few years ago, one of my favourite little trees had been felled by the strong winds. It couldn’t be saved so the rangers left the trunk as a log where people can sit to enjoy the views…The one thing that stuck in my mind was the sadness I felt at the loss of the beautiful tree, it was quite baffling to me how I’d taken it so badly….I still sit on the log today! 💕
I have a wooded area that I spend time in everyday. It is filled with all kinds of mushrooms. I stay still and watch squirrels grab off the hugh mushroom tops to eat. Then they scatter up whatever tree they live in. I am always surprised that I seem to be one of the very few people that ever go into these woods . I can not imagine not living near lots of trees. They just make your heart expand.
One of the best TED talks I have ever seen. A lot of what she said seems intuitive and is seemingly common sense. But the problem with all industries of exploitation for profit/financial gain, is it’s all about the money and increasing profits. Some of her research/ contentions/ suggestions at the end should be legislated or regulated into law (and I’m a Libertarian who wants limited government).
I love these talks because the things I seldom think of. I genuinely believed nature talks to each other as much as a bee can communicate precisely what the others need to know. I believe weeping willow trees are growing in certain places for a reason. There’s something about that location that’s causing them to weep but we haven’t figured it out yet.
Geniusly insightfull on the nature of forests and the disturbing ignorance and greed of mankind. A forest is an ecosystem even connected and symbiotic through roots and mycelium to cooperate against natural stress. I wonder how do you get the massive industry of deforestation to change their “technique” to become sustainable at this?
Isn’t this another example of how connected we all are connected? With some extrapolation it becomes obvious that this is another example of connection, the forest trees talk to each other! When I went to public school this was not spoken of for fear of ridicule. Isn’t that a fast recovery of knowledge once suppressed. It’s time for humans to see and admit this is a way, that spirituality shows it’s here and patient for us to wake up and see the truth of our time is adjusting but not as fast as the obvious facts the trees share nutrients, take better care of her own. Specifically how the nutrients are transferred thru the fungal net work and like a phone call directs specific care instructions which the key nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, were feed to offspring of the donator.. hope this makes you think and awaken to a new reality of peace and brotherly love, we are just another example . Good article with great information.
As I witness our species’ continued rape of its nest, my growing despair seems to slow down a little with my hearing your brilliant and wholesome fresh air and wisdom. Once our greed, collective ignorance, and passivity no longer has its way with us, things can perhaps start to change for the future of our unspeakably lovely planet.
That day in early spring when Denver got heavy snow…and it came in and broke so many branches off my mature trees, Douglass fir, birch. Crab apples, and aspens…how it hurt my husband and I to have to cut off branches and try and heal them 😫 It truly hurt, we felt anxiety about it. We are in fact tree huggers and we dont miss an opportunity to hug trees!🌲🌳❤❤🌳🌲
We are all a product of Earth… you know this by the food you eat, the water you drink, and the air you breath. How could anyone deny that Earth is alive? What kind of people would want you to believe Earth is separate from ourselves, devoid of intelligence, when it is she who gives birth to us? Please share this article!
When I was a child I had a favourite fir tree in my granny’s garden. I used to pat it’s branches and to talk with it. It seemed to me that it looked very healthy and fresh because of that. When we moved to the city and after years had passed, I visited it, it didn’t look so bright any more. My connection with that tree was a secret then.
BLESS HER for sharing this knowledge. There are ways that ancient ones share this enlightenment, open up minds so that they can see. Government doesn’t want you to know or see so they make it illegal to study but once you have seen it you can’t go back to believing that human brains and human eyes contain all of the knowledge of the earth . EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED, and we are but little specks in the rivers of moving time, space, energy . Ways that one can adventure, travel, explore and wake up unused parts of our brain, see things that we cannot see right in front of us ……. injesting certain mushrooms or DMT . We can then talk about if what we learn and see is reality or hallucinations. You could study in labs & start to have an inkling of how trees communicate or you could see and hear it for yourself. Mother trees are very real. There is so much movement and communication going on right in front of us everyday …… Many reasons why government doesnt want you to know .
Despite the horrific bushfires in Australia in late 2019, our government was allowing wood felling within days of the end of the fires, excited that burnt trees could still be used…mostly made into woodchips to be sent overseas to be made into paper products, often toilet paper. Our government has an appalling lack of understanding of the environment, for them it’s all about profit.I despair.But as a gardener, this talk was inspiring and hopeful.Thank you.
That’s so amazing how she was able to think like this and discover a whole network. I’m a psychology/neuroscience student and I can’t help thinking about neural maps of the brain and psychological research showing communication between different systems and applying it to the idea of these giant neural networks that likely span entire continents, or at least used to before mass deforestation. This is all so fascinating but I know that the people destroying the planet don’t care about their consequences and only about money. We all have to organize to make big changes before we cross major climate tipping points
Thank you Suzanne for this Beautiful TED Talk. You have a true Gift for weaving Scientific Data into the Spiritual Realm and getting right into listeners Hearts! Such a Gift! Yes, I grew up Loving trees all for very personal reasons. And Trees to me have always been my Friends and my Protectors. I feel so close to them Spiritually. I used to have 1 tall tree I would always reach up and pat everynight to say, “Goodnight”too. Silly, oh well. Stay Blessed & Stay Green! Brave Onward 🌳🌿🌰🍃🙏💝 ~
Incredible well done n said. It’s truly amazing… my favorite thing is to get lost in our woods(forest) …Appalachian mountains n find moss n walk barefoot ever so gently on it. The cool soft feeling is awesome(I also prefer a waterfall(can be small) to be close to keep that moist mist on it too.late might on twilight of moon is like another planet n 1st thing in the morning with the few n just warm from the sun is most amazing thing to me, I love it…don’t care if I’m weird, it revives me I’m a night owl by nature so….anyway enjoyed this speech very much!!!
I planted a spruce tree in my backyard over 40 years ago. It has grown to about 100 feet high. A couple of years ago in a high wind the top 20 feet broke off and fell to the ground. A few months later I noticed that one of the branches closest to the break at the top on the north side started to rise. I watched it over a period of months and it rose completely vertical and became the new leader of the tree. I’m fascinated that none of the other branches did this. The tree somehow knew and picked one branch to rise and become the leader.
trees are sometimes better than people. we are consumers, we take and never give, not in the last 4 centuries. clear cutting sends a message= of selfish gluttony and evil. i miss the forests and animal creatures. quit building strip malls. at least every corner. Thanks prof. Suzanne Simard, you prove earth was more than greed and cement. this is critical botany science. thanks for in your own way- try to save the world.
Wow. Thank you. I would love to chat to this lady about trees and how Japanese Knotweed can save trees by creating paper for schools etc. My daughter wrote a tree song and sang it in the park. Only friends and a kind Councillor supported her. Lucky to have them. Maybe she will sing somewhere people care about trees and get a bigger audience. I look forward to seeing that future. 🌲🌳🌴🎄🎋🏝️
HERE IN NEW ZEALAND THE PINE KAURI Agathis Australis IS DISEASED BY DIEBACK AND THERE IS OR SEEM NOTHING CAN KILL OR ERADICATE THIS DISEASE FROM THE PINE KAURI IN NORTHERN PARTS OF THIS COUNTRY.. I AM IMMENSLEY INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU ARE SAYING ABOUT THE TREES AND THEIR SOUNDS FOR EACH OTHER .. DISEASES LIKE THIS THRIVE BECAUSE WE HUMANS HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THE PLANTS AND WHY THEY EXIT. THANK YOU SO MUCH
True story. I had always wanted a willow, weeping of course. After dreaming of this 20 or so years my partner made that dream to come true on Mothers Day. Planting day came my partner named my tree and it hurt but I kept it to myself. My hurt turned to anger. My tree died. I have been doing some work on healing. Last winter I found 2 child trees from my 6 year dead willow. No other tree like this in my close area. Yes trees communicate. People talk.
trees must hold a lot of undiscovered secrets because they’ve been around since the beginning of time and they can withstand the harshest of elements that Mother Nature can deliver they stay strong and healthy and they live longer than most other forms of life so i think scientists still have a lot to learn from trees
Great vid! Trees are wise warriors ready for what the world throws its way. Mothers ready to nurture and provide abundance for everything in that system. If you look at the trees in most cities they are more confused and less ready for abundance. We take the water nutrients and the ecosystem from there habitat which gives very little chance for advancement. This habitat is also our own which in turn provides little for us as well. Providing space in our backyards parking lots and downtown cores is key to the regeneration of those areas and to our beloved microclimates. Small changes in our building style will make huge impacts to the places we work live and play. Designing cities that have compacted ground everywhere pipes that banish water and trees that stand alone in a concrete jungle. Is a design fault which makes everyone suffer. Air that is almost unbreathable ground that is almost ungrowable and a general climate that is un hospitable to plants/ humans. We make cities in deserts that look identical to the cities in flourishing ecosystems. Water being the most important factor for success in any ecosystem means we need to address that first and mostly. Areas that trap/ hold water will invite plants and abundance back to that system. Then we let that area thrive in a controlled fashion in are backyards parking lots and downtown cores. This design change will help us breath better and enjoy what we create instead of hurrying through that area and going home.
Hi there Suzanne. I was very overwhelmed and fascinated by your awesome and enthralling lecture. I would like you to look a bit further into something that you may not have given much thought to. Do you know there is a strong relationship between trees and ants. And yes, they do communicate. Give it a shot in your studies and research. You may be in for a surprise. Keep on trucking.
Remarkably, SOLO trees are some of the strongest I’ve seen in Oregon over 40 years as Arborist, and prior growing up. Both ways work. GROUP trees were weaker and dependent, whereas solo trees has bigger trunks, rooted deeper to withstand storms, and held up very good. Trees adapt. Some are loners, some are not. Cheers, M. D. Vaden / mdvaden.com
indigenous people have known this for ages…thanks you science for catching up and then reminding us…there’s communication and then there’s communication…determining sentience from a human perspective limits sentience…help the forests as opposed to stripping them and perhaps climate change won’t be so profound…