Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Daniel Butler.
How to Plant a Tree:
A Simple Celebration of Trees & Tree-planting Ceremonies.
New York: Tarcher/Penguin, 2010.
Decorated boards, 128 pp., ISBN 978–1–585–42796–3, $15.95.

This book combines details on how to plant a tree properly, with descriptions of the importance of trees in our lives. As the author points out, trees play important roles in many cultures and religions. The book itself is divided into sections describing the life cycle of a tree — A New Baby, A Marriage, A Retirement, and eventually In Memoriam. These stages in a tree’s life are compared to our stages of growth and development. There are lovely illustrations in the text which at times is difficult to read, given the small format of the book and amount of text compressed on every page with figures. Nevertheless, the content is engaging, full of useful information. I found the section of coppiced woodlands fascinating, given that some stands in England are 7,000 years old. Any reader would find this work indeed a celebration of trees.

— Joan Richards, volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.