Prove that trees are awesome, with images

Post images, photos, graphics proving that trees are awesome...

Moringa, a super-nutritious leaf!
Moringa oleifera by Blanco from WikiMedia.org
Moringa by pierre jdlf from WikiMedia.org
One of the most striking photos of an oasis I've come across:
Oasis in Algeria by Yazid Tizi from GoodPlanet.info

Food Forest by OneCommunityGlobal.org
Tony Rinaudo reforests Niger with a $2 pocket knife from ecofilms.com.au
Stages of succession from PermacultureApprentice.com

Tree Shaping Artist Peter Cook in garden chair from WikiMedia.org
Tree Shaping Baskettree Palnatoke from WikiMedia.org
Tree shaping bottom view from Living Root Bridge in Mawlynnong by Sujan Bandyopadhyay from WikiMedia.org

Tree Shaping Cubetree by Palnatoke from WikiMedia.org
Tree Shaping by Jugni from WikiMedia.org
Tree shaping Living root bridges, Nongriat village, Meghalaya from Wikia.Nocookie.net

Hi Loxley,
I don't have any cool pics to share, but I wanted to thank you for sharing yours in these threads, I really enjoy them!

Maureen Atsali wrote:Hi Loxley,
I don't have any cool pics to share, but I wanted to thank you for sharing yours in these threads, I really enjoy them!

Thank you Maureen, I appreciate your comment.
I really enjoy the work you do greening Western Kenya. Keep up the goodness!

Tree shaping by Neadle les from WikiMedia.org
Tree Shaping Peace web by Richard Reames of ArborSmith.com from WikiMedia.org
Tree shaping - Person-tree from WikiMedia.org

Our soil is really thin and lies above shale.

This tree had grown successfully by managing to penetrate cracks in the shale with its roots, and when it finally fell over its roots tore up a huge ball of shale leaving a gaping hole below.  I'm guessing this will fill in with soil during rains and the next tree to grow here will be able to get a deeper foothold.

Burra Maluca wrote:Our soil is really thin and lies above shale.
This tree had grown successfully by managing to penetrate cracks in the shale with its roots, and when it finally fell over its roots tore up a huge ball of shale leaving a gaping hole below.  I'm guessing this will fill in with soil during rains and the next tree to grow here will be able to get a deeper foothold.

WHOA! Nice picture! Is that from Portugal?

Yes, from Portugal.  I took it this morning.  I've been eyeing up the rest of the tree and planning some log benches...

Nice, I like the idea of benches. Why do you suppose it fell over?

Loxley Clovis wrote:Why do you suppose it fell over?

Well it was quite large.  I'm not sure how clear it is in the photo, but here's the rest of it.



It's very common for pine trees to fall over here when they get big enough, and I always assumed it was because of the shallow soil.  Maybe even if they manage to get their roots into shale it's not enough to stop the wind blowing them over.  I'm guessing here - maybe soil is more forgiving so that roots that are 'pulled' when the wind blows the tree can get a grip again, but roots in rock are held pretty rigidly and maybe then dont' get a second chance.  Or maybe there just weren't *enough* roots penetrating the shale.  

This thread from Lumberjocks has tons of interesting trees. The thread started so long ago that a number of pictures linked elsewhere have been lost over time, but it is still an inspirational resource.

I have seen lots of interesting things involving trees right here in town, but I'm not one to take pictures, so I will have to remember to take some pictures and maybe share a few stories. One really awesome experience I had was in the backyard at my old house. I didn't have any glasses at the time and walked outside to look around. I got across the yard looking up, then looked down and saw some tiny long leaf pine trees growing. I turned back towards the house and realized the ground was carpeted with them! There were probably as many tiny needles on all the little trees as there were blades of grass in that large section of the yard. It ended up getting mowed down, but nowadays it a is a nice permaculture garden.

That is an amazing thread. I love the dancing tree! Thanks for sharing Daniel!

Tree shaping by Simba16 from WikiMedia.org
Top view from Living Root Bridge in Mawlynnong by Sujan Bandyopadhyay WikiMedia.org
Twolegtree by Palnatoke from WikiMedia.org

Greening the Desert by Gabriel White CreativeCommons Attirbution-ShareAlike
Greening the Desert by victorrdyrnes CC0 public domain
Greening the Desert Huacachina Dunes by Ingo Mehling WikiMedia.org

Libya Ubari Lakes by Luca Galuzzi (Lucag), 2007 from WikiMedia.org
oasis by JuSa2000 CC0 public domain
Oasis de Huacachina, Ica, Perú, 2015-07-29, DD 9-22 PAN WikiMedia.org

Rio nilo aswan by Alberto-g-rovi, 2007, WikiMedia.org
river by pepa74, CC0 public domain
Southern Tunisia, Shott El Djerid Oasis CC0 public domain

Libya Mirroring Oasis Desert Lake Rest Nature CC0 public domain
Moapa Valley NWR, southern Nevada by Stan Shebs from WikiMedia.org
Moringa Drouhardii from WikiMedia.org

Most of the inspirational trees I know of, besides stuff mentioned here, are in my head from things I have seen. If I ever get around to some of the better ones I will have to take pictures, something I rarely do for myself. I remembered the other day when I went by my old house, and grabbed a picture.

The story behind this tree was really unusual. I had just started learning about permaculture and growing things, and I knew that I wanted to start growing trees. I had a friend come over to help clean up the yard for spring. I got started early raking leaves and I had my friend clean out some plant beds. In one there were a pair of Long Leaf Pines that were maybe 3" tall. I told him to leave those behind and clean out the rest. I come back after finishing with the leaves and saw they were gone! Oh well, I needed to finish cleaning up.

Behind the fence in the back was a canal and a tree farm across from that. We usually just dumped yard debris back there. I brought a load of stuff back there to the pile we had made that day, and right on top was one of the little pine trees! I picked it up and potted it temporarily. Eventually I moved it to the east side of the house to block the morning sun from hitting the wall to the den where most people spend their waking hours in the house. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the 6' tall fence is maybe 5 feet behind the tree for reference. It might not be particularly inspirational to others without the story attached, but it has been life altering for me. I guess it's been ten years now, and looking pretty healthy!

Woah! Nice story Daniel! So had the pines been uprooted or were they cut & able to re-root themselves?

It had been raked out along with a bunch of weeds. It's pretty amazing because my eyesight is horrible and I had no glasses at the time. A little green thing like that on a pile of weeds was like a needle in a hay stack. I have really good color recognition, so I managed to pick it out, but it was directly on top of the heap. The chances of me finding it like that after already giving up hope were minuscule, but that's what happened! I really love how resilient native trees are and their many benefits to the ecosystem.

The Fatherland of Apples By Gary Paul Nabhan - article at OrionMagazine.org
Breaking Ground: The Call of the Wild Apple By Michael Pollan - article at MichaelPollen.com
Following images:
Ancient apple food forest - Malus sieversii (wild ancient apples) and apricots in Almaty, Kazakhstan by Vice.com
Ancient apple food forest - Malus sieversii (wild ancient apples) in Almaty, Kazakhstan by Donati, Simone
Ancient apple food forest floor - Malus sieversii (wild ancient apples) in Almaty, Kazakhstan by Vice.com

Not as spectacular as some of the images already posted in this thread but I always think that this tree/these trees are pretty awesome. The tree is actually two trees, a hazel and a hawthorn, that have grown and fused together. It's located on a hill not far from me in Wales.

Cool fusion pic Sam, thanks for sharing!
Following pics:
Ancient apple food forest floor - Malus sieversii (wild ancient apples) in Zhongar-Alatau, by Yakov Fedorov, WikiMedia.org
Ancient apple food forest floor - wild apple seeds in bear scat in Almaty, Kazakhstan by Vice.com
Ancient apple food forest with grapes, hops, licorice by AstanaTimes.com

Heirloom / wild apples at a farmers market in Almaty, Kazakhstan by Gary Paul Nabhan.
Second image from Vice.com

Here's a 1,000-year-old chestnut tree. Reminds me of Mark Shepard in the movie Inhabit: a Permaculture Perspective talking about chestnut trees in Europe that were planted by the Romans that are still producing chestnuts. I think that's what Bill Mollison & David Holmgren meant when they coined the term permanent agriculture. There's just something about planting a tree that has the potential of feeding other plants, fungi, bacteria, humans & other animals for a millennium that is so inspiring to me. I know, I know, that sounds really perma-sappy.
Photo by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, WikiMedia.org