When is the Best Time to Plant a Tree?
As I sit in my recliner, looking out at our yard through rain-streaked windows, I am overcome with pride and a wonderful sense of accomplishment at what I see. What was an abandoned field 18 years ago, today has raised beds for vegetables, four different types of berry bushes, plus a wide variety of other flowers and plants that are colorful and beneficial to wildlife. But it’s the trees that we have planted over the last 18 years that amaze me the most. They are an eclectic group of paulownia, ash, apple, plum, fig, locust, cedar, maple, and mimosa trees, all on 3/4 of an acre. We enjoy and appreciate every one of them, and we’ll probably plant even more over the coming years. Mainly for the next generation though, as we are getting up in years.
The origin of the quotation “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now” seems to be questionable. Still, there is absolutely no question that planting trees, be it 20 years ago or today, brings profound and marvelous changes. The simple act of planting a single tree will, over time, change you, the tree, as well as the tree’s surroundings, all for the better.
There is no better way to invest in the future than by planting trees. Even if it’s just one tree. And even though it is a selfless act with no kudos from anybody, you know that you are doing something to improve tomorrow’s world.
Even better if the kids are involved. For them, it can be a laboratory for learning about the relationship between trees, the environment, and humans. As time passes and the trees grow, they become living examples of how a slow and steady pace can, over time, bring about visible changes: changes that have enormous environmental, personal, and fiscal value.
So put down your smartphone, walk away from your computer, turn off the TV, grab a shovel, get your hands dirty, and plant a tree. Any tree will do. Then baby if for a year. Then, over the next 20 years, look at it every now and then. Pay attention to it as it provides shade, becomes home to wildlife, provides a limb for a swing, or a bunch of limbs for a treehouse. And all the while, it quietly stands there, taking in CO2 and giving off oxygen.
It’s the best investment you’ll ever make.
