The language of plants

The language of plants

What is the language of plants?

Recently, one of my clients lost a rather large Douglas Fir during a wind storm.  The 50-foot plus tree toppled over late one windy night.  As the tree lay on the adjacent hedge, the root plate tipped up like a wine glass, exposing significant root rot on one side. I wondered, what happened? Currently, signs and symptoms are the only language we have to understand the health of trees. I begin to ask questions.

How long have you known this tree?

How did the tree get here?

How well do you know the neighbors?

Has there been any disturbances recently?

When was the deck, fence, shed, built?

When I know the cause of trauma (i.e. likely damaged roots due to a fence installed many years ago), then I understand why the tree fell over.  Clues point to the fact that the tree was under duress and not just some unrelated weather event.  I can then formulate a plan to help the owner ensure this doesn’t happen in the future.

Sometimes, signs and symptoms are also the only language we have when people are stressed and communication is lacking.  In dealing with plants and humans, both have signs and symptoms based on the trauma that has occurred.  What were the signs and symptoms that would have clued us in on the trauma?  If we know the source of trauma past or present we have an opportunity to lend aid to help our fellow living organism. 

Paying attention to signs and symptoms will makes us better stewards of our landscape, self and community.  Observing the natural world around us and community connects us more deeply.  In nature we have natural patterns, an oak tree only bears oak leaves each leaf almost an identical replica of the other leaves. Knowing what a normal leaf looks like with a practiced eye you can then begin to easily see a leaf that might show a sign or a symptom much easier. It’s natures way of helping us to identify abnormal features in an otherwise perfect system.

Humans can be much the same. Can you remember a time when you could tell the mood someone was in, just by the way they said “Hi”? Often we will call this a “vibe”. 

It is an example of our natural human perception of what is normal human behavior and what is stressed human behavior. 

When we recognize another human with an ill vibe, we have an opportunity to lend aid. 

You can’t spell opportunity with out unity.

Always Climbing,

Dustin Tillis Marchello,

ISA Certified Arborist #we-5871A

ISA Certified Tree Risk Assessor

Certified Yoga instructor 

IG @pdxforestbathing, @tillistree