The aesthetics of trees

We bang on a bit here at Friends of Drouin’s Trees, about the utilitarian values of trees for the environment and our health. However, a tree can be appreciated and valued just for its beauty, its elegance, or grandeur, its sheer survival … its aesthetics.

Some trees are like works of art within the landscape; they can inspire, please or motivate the beholder year-round.

Architects often will enhance their drawings with a tree or two to offset straight lines, to soften sharp corners, etc, to please the eye.

Real estate agents will tell you your house is more valuable and will sell more easily if there are some trees or shrubs on the nature strip or in the yard. Is that because the buyer is aware that trees and shrubs absorb carbon and pollutants, give off oxygen, provide shade and habitat, etc? Probably not. It’s more likely because trees provide an ambience of calm and tranquillity, a soothing of the soul.

Trees are capable of providing us with memories. Nearly everyone is able to recall a tree or patch of bush or forest from childhood days. Why can a tree be part of a vivid childhood memory? How come we can feel nostalgia for a tree?

Poets sometimes struggle to explain –

Joyce Kilmer’s Trees –

“I think that I will never see

            A poem lovely as a tree.

           .

           .

            Poems are made by fools like me,

  But only God can make a tree.”

 
Trees can nourish the soul. A community’s tree cover is an extension of its pride and spirit.