Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees

In this educational and reassuring volume on ecology and sustainability, New York City arborist Logan (Air: The Restless Shaper of the World) sets out to explain processes of regeneration and ways in which trees feed off one another. He observes that though “a tree is in a forest... there is also a forest in each tree,” in that “every new branch arises on its parent’s stem in exactly the same way that its first parent arose from the dirt.” When the trunk of almost any leafy tree or shrub breaks, burns, or is cut low, the author notes, it will inevitably sprout again. Logan, a San Francisco Bay area native, returns to a favorite childhood spot on the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park to reacquaint himself with the impressive trees there, and also visits UC Berkeley to examine those near the campus’s clock tower and gather insight on pruning and maintenance. In subsequent chapters, Logan goes abroad, to, among other countries, Spain and Japan, the latter boasting a number of revered coppice oak forests. Logan’s graceful survey will reassure nature-loving readers that, even in the face of devastating wildfires, nature can set itself again on the right course. With 15 b&w illus. (Apr.)