Yesterday we said we won’t have another mixed-conifer forest in our or Kaitlin and Torben’s lifetime. We can see why from these pictures of some Ponderosa pines and fir trees that Beate and Tim gave Andy and helped him plant.
These fir trees and pines were planted five years ago:
A fir tree:
We can see from this closeup that this fir tree is about 20″ tall now:
A Ponderosa pine tree:
As we can see from this closeup, this pine is almost 4′ high now:
Here’s a closeup of another Ponderosa pine planted the same time. It is less than 2′ high:
This one had problems, first about three years ago it was nibbled on by some critters, then this last winter it was hit by a falling tree and lost some branches. Life is not easy up there.
This fir tree was planted last year:
We can see from the closeup that it’s about 11″ high:
In the past Beate and Tim planted about 1000 trees on their land, and so far about 200 of them have survived and are growing. And they planted 20 more pines and 20 more firs this year. Again, it will be a long time before there is a forest up there.
There are a lot of people here who are creating forests on a voluntary basis and they are now considered as heroes. I am sure that all of you too will one day.
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/meet-awesome-indians-who-have-planted-forests-and-built-sanctuaries-40141
Thank you for the link! What great stories.
such vulnerable little beings are trees.
they need lots of water til their root system can go deep enough.
and that’s always difficult in our two climates… yours and mine.
it’s a wonder anything can take off and grow.
our climate here on the prairie is so harsh. extremes in every season.
but we keep hope. and we keep trying! that’s all one can do!
trees are planted for the future joy of others. a worthy pursuit. xo
Yes, your climate is even worse than ours. The drying winds play havoc with plants — they can’t pump water up fast enough to stay hydrated. And then there are the hungry animals….
one step/plant at a time – and they are growing, they are basically surviving – even the one who took a critter and a dead tree on…
Fingers crossed!