And why do you like it so much?
Willows. They feel so incredibly relaxed, like they just don’t give a shit.
Bending in the wind like a ballerina
Birch! They’re just so beautiful!
Plus birch beer is awesome
People used to make all kinds of stuff from the bark, too
Didnt the Vikings use birch tar to make their wooden ships watertight? Awesome tree!
Japanese Maple. Had one by the front door of the house I grew up in. Reminds me of my childhood home.
Oh the colors
I used to live in a rickety flat that had a single old creaky staircase to get up to the front door, and a little grassy terrace area. Only I really ever used the grassy bit. The stairs had a pohutakawa tree growing essentially right through them, making walking up or down them hazardous. Especially when drunk.
I would not classify that period of my life to be “happy” by any stretch, but that tree signified being “home.” It was like the guardian to my space. A physical barrier between me and the shitshow that was the rest of the world at that time. An almost literal gatekeeper (many people were too scared to walk up the stairs lol)
Added bonus, year end holidays, and the height of summer were vividly and brightly different thanks to the red needles they drop everywhere around that time.
It wasn’t until the landlord told me he was planning to have it cut down, and I had an almost physical reaction that I realized how much I loved that tree. I managed to convince him not to have it cut down until after I’d left.
Both the tree and the flat are now gone. A multi million dollar new build is there now.
The walnut tree. Its leaves are dense so it casts a cohesive shadow, perfect for shelter from the sun. I LOVE how it smells, especially when developing walnuts, and green walnuts are entirely unique in how they taste!
That shade
American Chestnut. Have a few seedlings we planted in the front yard. Super excited to be part of the process of restoring them
Dark oak. I like how it looks, when processed.
Aspen. Having lived and vacationed in Colorado in the past made my wife and I fall in love with them for their color in the fall. We’ve traveled back just to see them.
Everything about the Gingko tree is pretty cool
It really is a cool tree, but man, having to walk near fallen gingko nuts every day during the autumn is kind of torture.
Redbud. It’s got such pretty blossoms and the leaves are a really pleasing shape.
It’s the State tree of Oklahoma. When my neighbors’ redbud starts making pods, I’m gonna snag a bunch, refrigerate them over winter, then scarify and try to get a few to germinate the following spring. It takes probably 5 or so years to start getting flowers, but I really love everything about these trees, not just their awesome flowers. The heart shaped leaves they develop in summer are so cute.
Yew, so many are really old and have a mystical air to them.
We have a big maple in our yard and more through the neighborhood. The sound of wind running through their leaves is very calming.
there’s this one tree in a park nearby that I used to climb on as a kid, id say that’s my favorite tree
Number three…
The larch.
