Tree Networks

“Surely you can't imagine they don't dance, from the root up, wishing to travel a little, not cramped so much as wanting a better view, or more sun, or just as avidly more shade - surely you can't imagine they just stand there loving every minute of it”

- Mary Oliver

A growing body of knowledge about tree networks necessitates a change in perspective about designing with urban trees for landscape architects. As a profession we are accustomed to viewing street trees as independent elements, but in fact when we examine life below ground we are invited to reimagine our approach to planting trees in a way that opens up a host of new opportunities to innovate our standard practices.Often portrayed as solitary, even stoic in their oneness, trees are anything but singular beings. “Trees are social creatures" explains ecologist Suzanne Simard, author of the book Finding the Mother Tree. “They communicate with each other in cooperative ways that are lessons for humans, too.”The work of Simard and many other researchers has illuminated the connectivity that exists between trees as a chemical exchange system associated with mycorrhizae, a filamentous fungi that lives symbiotically with plant roots. This biological system is necessary for tree life as it facilitates the uptake of necessary nutrients as well as a barrier to pathogens. To function it requires a soil system that allows it to connect one tree to another in a sense. Simard likens the way it works to neural pathways.Following Simard’s research, a starting point for enhancing tree pathways is to design for the conditions that will support their connectivity. If mycorrhizae are the lines of communication for healthy trees, then we need to design with this subterranean system in mind (think continuous trenches!). As we pay more attention to what is below ground, we hope it will invite a new possibility for the shape of trees above ground as well.

written by Lori Ball Horton