We all know how precious and important trees are for our health and wellbeing, and how vital they are for the health and wellbeing of our plant earth. This excellent book confirms this in spades and takes the wonder and joy of trees to a whole new level.

As soon as I read it, I wanted to read it all over again, as I surely will. With an enchanting passion for the lives and needs of trees, author and forest manager, Peter Wohlleben, takes you into a magical world that makes you realise J R R Tolkein's 'Ents' of Middle Earth are pretty much real and that we all have a duty to understand their incredible value, worth and complexity as much as we have a duty to understand ourselves.

Scientists are discovering many incredible things about trees. First of all they are interdependent, exchanging nutrients and helping each other in times of need by managing their own root networks and creating their own ecosystems. This enables them to moderate extreme temperatures, store water and generate humidity as required. In these protective, undisturbed environments trees live to be very old.

Trees are able to protect themselves from danger by pumping out toxic substances, defensive compounds and warning gases through the air or via their roots, producing complex chemicals specifically formulated for the task in hand. There is an entire 'wood wide web' connecting tree roots and intermediary 'fibre-optic' fungi cables that guarantee quick dissemination of news.

All these fascinating insights in the first two chapters with further 34 chapters on how trees synchronise their performance, agree on the best times to produce seeds and bloom, shade their offspring, optimise their performance, ward off intruders, stockpile water, store essential oils, transmit adjustments such as changing root direction, and so much more.

The thing that most surprised me (and made me feel quite ignorant and so grateful to be educated) is that planting 'new' forests with trees in rows is actually no use at all. Trees grow too quickly and growth fuelled by excess nitrogen from agricultural operations is unhealthy. The concept that forests are being rejuvenated is wrong when all the old trees are felled and replaced with newly planted little trees. Older trees are far more productive than younger trees. 'If we want to use forests as a weapon in the fight against climate change, we must allow them to grow old.'

I have hardly covered the awe inspiring revelations to be found in this book and if you have any fondness for trees at all, I know you will enjoy this enlightening and satisfying read.

In conclusion and please remember, undisturbed trees are happy trees. Let us endeavour to understand their needs so that we can pro-actively protect them, preserve their ideal environments and learn how to leave them be!

Sue Cartwright

Spiral Leaf