Sunday, December 06, 2009
Plant your tree this year
Christian Trejbal
Recent columns
- Montgomery schools' $6.2 million deficit
- This column does not compute
- Make political parties pay for their primaries
- Tough times ahead for schools
From the RoundTable blog
Last year's Winter Solstice tree is doing well and looks forward to having a companion in a few weeks.
Soon, I will visit one of the tree sellers that have sprung up throughout the New River Valley, choose a tree and decorate it for the solstice. I will set the glass sun I found at Stepping Out on top and celebrate that the days will grow longer as our tilted Earth continues its year-long journey.
And I will be sure to choose a tree with a root ball again this year so that after the holiday I can plant it next to its predecessor. Maybe I will find the car that goes with the 1953 license plate I dug up last year.
After 12 months, last year's tree is a bit bushier and a bit taller. It smiles, I like to think, whenever I pass it. It knows that I saved it from the massacre of its brethren and it can now grow freely.
I also like to think that if people were honest about it for a minute, they would acknowledge how wasteful it is to harvest millions of evergreens each year for the Winter Solstice or other holiday around the same time.
Most people buy a sawed-off holiday tree and keep it on life support while it adorns the living room for a few weeks. Then it goes into the trash or on the fire. That beautiful carbon sink that removed greenhouse gases while it grew releases them all back into the atmosphere while it decomposes or burns.
At best, it is break even for the environment. No more carbon goes into the air than was taken out, really. But factor in the gas wasted on harvesting and transporting, and it is a net loss.
Instead, tree aficionados could create a net gain for the planet and the future.
A live tree, planted after it has served its time as holiday décor, sequesters greenhouse gases for years. It also serves homeowners' landscaping needs, offers cooling shade and wildlife habitat, and screens the prying eyes of neighbors.
If the yard has no room for another tree or if there is no yard, one can always find someone who accepts arboreal donations. Local parks departments, schools, charities and youth groups are likely options. Even a neighbor might be happy to plant it.
But really one's own yard is the best place. There is a special pleasure in seeing that tree all year and remembering the winter holiday from which it came, its moments of laughter, joy and family.
A tree with a root ball costs a few dollars more from holiday tree sellers. Helping the planet is not free. And they are heavy, oh so heavy. Ask politely, though, and the seller might deliver it to your nearby home. Tip generously.
Dig the hole for it early, too, in case the ground freezes under the snow of a white solstice. Be sure to check out how large the tree will be at full growth and allow ample space for fences, buildings and other trees.
Our winter holidays should celebrate life and light emerging from the darkness. It is hard to do that properly while needlessly killing a tree.
