The Hidden Life of Trees
We are proud to be working in Scotland landscaping, of course, and we are especially happy to be able to spend so much time in the great outdoors. One of our favourite books in recent times has been The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben. It’s a wonderful read, and a great way for us to understand more about trees and our relationship with them.
One of the most interesting findings in the book is the revelation that trees communicate with one another on a regular basis. In a world that’s becoming increasingly dominated by social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, trees have existed as a social network for centuries. A tree, as Peter Wohlleben points out, is only as strong as the forest that surrounds it.
Trees support one another in the same way that members of a family or a community would. If an individual tree takes too much in way of water or nutrients, for example, then the surrounding trees might suffer, Everyday life seems to force us into living at a million miles per hour sometimes, so it was refreshing to find a book that reminded us once again of the glories of nature.
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The One Straw Revolution
When we talk about landscape gardening in Scotland with others in the same industry, it becomes apparent that there are many different schools of thought here. The fabulous One-Straw Revolution has introduced us to another, and it’s one that gets more interesting when you delve deeper into the possibilities. What we’re talking about here is natural farming, perhaps as natural as it gets.
First published by Masanobu Fukuoka in the 1970s, this exceptional book represents a milestone in alternative agriculture. Fukuoka espoused no chemicals, no artificial fertilisers, no ploughing and, going against centuries of tradition in Japan, no flooding of rice fields. Many doubted his methods, but those doubts soon started to vanish when his farm produced some exceptional results.
The One-Straw Revolution has been seen by many as a ground-breaking work that details an approach to farming that seemed to have all but disappeared in these heavily industrialised times. And while it would be easy to see Fukuoka as the inventor of a brand new approach to farming, in reality he’s more of a passionate ambassador for methods of farming that were once the norm.
Brown Earth Landscapes are passionate about landscaping in Scotland, and we’re always keen to find out more about various approaches to the industry in which we work. If you’d like to find out more about what we do, just call 01250 884 342 today.
