The Benefits of Trees

There’s just something magical about forests. Walking through them in the late afternoon, the sunlight filtering through the leaves. The quiet murmur of animals scurrying about. It’s contemplative, healing even, to spend time within them.

I have an orchard of plum, apple, pear and cherry trees on my 100-acre farm in Ancaster, where I also care for old Carolinian forests and am growing new forests with Tulip trees, Kentucky coffee trees and other antique trees. So, I spend a lot of time in and around forests. And I’ve found their benefits, to humans and the natural world, are virtually endless.

I can’t imagine my property without its beautiful trees.

Consider orchards. Today, most of the world’s commercially grown apples come from just a handful of varieties. But start a small orchard on your property and you can begin to diversify the kind of fruits you and your friends may sample. And once a single tree is established, it can provide a substantial yield of fruit for decades. 

Of course, that’s just scratching the surface of the benefits forests offer the natural world. Obviously, trees of all kinds serve as an excellent retardant to pollution, since they make their food from carbon dioxide and can hold dust, ash, pollen and smoke, which can be damaging to not only human lungs but other animals as well.

At the same time, forests are incredibly helpful in supporting their physical surroundings. Forests control flooding and prevent soil and wind erosion, while also providing habitat for wildlife. The latter is especially important in today’s world, where development continues to encroach on living spaces of animals of all sorts.

Then there’s the benefits forests offer to people. Study after study has found that spending time in nature is incredibly nourishing for humans. An hour stroll through a forest can reduce your blood pressure and stress.

This isn’t the same as just taking a walk around a city block, with its noisy cars and flashing lights and chattering neighbors. There’s something restorative about being surrounded on all sides by the natural world.

This is why I invested so much into the trees on my property. Trees themselves are not necessarily all that expensive, but there is tremendous upkeep involved. I’m constantly pruning and watering and monitoring their growth and development. But he says the investment of time is absolutely worth it, not only for the benefits its offers to the natural world, but to my own well-being.

I’m a nature lover, there’s no doubt. Since I own such a large property, I feel as though it's my duty to do what I can to help keep the environment nice and pure. But my love of the trees on my farm goes so much deeper than that. Walking the trails in my little forests is so therapeutic for me. After a long day at the office, nothing refreshes me quite as much as spending a little time with my trees, picking fruit, trimming a branch, things like that.

I know not everyone has the land or resources to maintain a forest, let alone multiple forests. But I’m a strong proponent of everyone seeking out the forested regions in their area, both to maintain them and to soak in their beauty.

People and forests, we go hand in hand. We’re made for each other. It’s not only important that we do everything we can to preserve the remaining forests in our communities, but also to enjoy them, too.