TREE

The beauty and serenity provided by trees in the landscape are immeasurable but deeply felt. The long list of aesthetic considerations offers so many possibilities: blooms in the springtime, shelter for nesting birds, screening and visual diversion from neighboring houses, shade provider, movement of the breeze made visual, fall color, fall berries. Planting trees is to a degree a selfless act: the trees you plant now won’t come into their full maturity until a generation or two down the line, so it’s a gift to the future.

Trees provide the vertical structure of a landscape and are the most basic element of a landscape plan. They can take longer than lesser plants to come into their own, but can last for many generations, if given the chance. A forward-thinking homebuilder will plant the backyard trees before the house is built, to give them a rooting headstart and avoid access issues that arise after construction. Imagine moving into your brand new house and having the good beginnings of a backyard, instead of a bare, construction-ravaged lot.

treeselkWe love to plant aspens! We are so lucky to live where they are native and put on a year-round performance: the soft smudge of leafless groves breaking up the monotones of mountainsides of evergreens, the hopeful bright greens of new spring growth, the audible quaking of summer leaves, the glorious golds and oranges of the autumn light show.

trees

The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson