Name: The Hidden Life of Trees
Rating: 3.995495495495495 (111 reviews)
ISBN: 9781771642484

Peter Wohlleben

"A forester's fascinating stories, supported by the latest scientific research, reveal the extraordinary world of forests and illustrate how trees communicate and care for each other"--

What They Feel, how They Communicate : Discoveries from a Secret World

The Hidden Life of Trees

Erika Stonehouse

Hoarfrost is similar to snow, but it's much more romantic.

A five-hundred-year-old tree has surely had a few surprises in its life.

Greg Talbot

With brio and gusto, Peter Wollhllebem illumunates the inner and hidden liife of trees. Writing of trees in a way we often describe animals, he ponders the tree’s sentience with imagination. Comparing the rough bark of a tree to the acne scars of an adult, describing the crackling of seedlings (p.12-13) as plant communication or describe the social well-being of plants may sound far out, but Wollehllebum weaves together facts and imagery in an effective and marvelous story. “Trees grow in many extreme environments. Can? Indeed they must!”. As much Wollehllebum describes the plants in human terms, he considers the different time perspective of a plant that will grow for hundreds of years, and how the unmoving tapestry around us is simply playing a longer game. Human activity of planned forests, girding trunks or general lack foo stewardship. Giving the wonderous vision of science and the hard-facts, it is a book worthy of the lumber it’s written on. We can’t understand the tree without understanding the forest, or the forest without the fungi and animal life, and the animal life without the physical terrain..and so it is, that this lovely book is a reminder of the place of trees in our world, not as an object to behold, but as brothers and sisters among us. Should we choose to embrace a nobler spirit of the plant world, perhaps we could see it in ourselves.

Fascinating! It made me see trees and forests from a completely new perspective.

Mima

It is my second time reading this book and it was just as beautiful, or even more so, than the first time. 

In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific mechanisms behind these wonders, of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group. Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World

Jimmy Cerone

A fundamental rethinking of the trees around me 

Trees are social! What a concept - it has totally changed the way I view them and their lives. You will never look at a tree the same after this book.

Briar Rose

Short and not quite as in depth as I might have liked, but contained some fascinating insights about the trees with which we share our world. As a side note, I’m glad I read it before Richard Powers’ enthralling The Overstory, as that novel seems to draw some themes and information from this book.

Pavonini

This was pretty wonderful. It completely changed the way I see trees and forests. There's quite a lot of talk of plants and their feelings/behaviour which seems like speculation, but I didn't find it intrusive. I can accept that this is Wohlleben's opinion and admit that it does help the writing flow. You can tell that it's a translation but it's not much of a problem. 

I disagree with him on the unimportance of large animals (esp. predators). His use of the term "behaviour" seemed to me to imply more intent than was necessary, but it's a translated work and honestly I might be misinterpreting. A few of his claims seemed exaggerated, and the work is not well-referenced (there are references in the back, but the organisation and footnotes are lacking). I wouldn't take everything in this book as fact, but as an inspiring personal account of both his experience with forests and his reading of the research. Trees are treated as friends, and this is a series of anecdotes from one who loves them.

I'll be recommending it to others, definitely.

alina s

Dana Kraft

This book changed my perspective on trees and forests. I was at first put off by how much the author humanizes tree "behavior", but it was obviously done on purpose, and it worked for me to help change my perspective.

I'm also humbled when I think of how little we know about trees and any other organism or process that doesn't obviously change at the same speed as humans.

Vivian

Before reading this book I’ve always thought of trees as objects, now I see them as living creatures that can feel and communicate. Humans are used to taking so much from nature, bending other creatures’ lives to fulfill our unnecessary needs. Thanks to this book I’m once more reminded of our connection to nature and live more consciously.

Yiğit Ahmet Kurt

Ağaçların yaşamını değil de bir bilimkurgu okuyorsunuz sanki. Ya da daha doğrusu yeni bir uygarlığın keşfini. Tıpkı insanlar gibi konuşan, koklaşan, sevişen, yardımlaşan, paylaşan, aile olan, savaşan, göç eden bir uygarlık. İnanılmaz bir hikaye var bu kitapta. Ve tamamen gerçek olan bir hikaye.

Nadine 

After reading this you’ll never look at a forest or solo tree the same again. And wonder about initiatives like planting a billion trees to reverse global warming etc. 
Audio book read in wonderful melodious voice. Apparently a younger reader version currently being translated- I’ve got it on pre-order already.

Safiya 

Always admired nature and forests and O found in this book a few objective reasons to why is it so?

I guess that most of all, I admire the way forests and trees are depicted: as alive and dynamic entities in contrast with how historically they were ignored and separated from the fauna to the extent of being considered an object rather than a being. 

"Science has adopted a term first coined by the journal Nature for Dr. Simard’s discovery of the “wood wide web” pervading our forests. What and how much information is exchanged are subjects we have only just begun to research."

I learnt a few things about trees physionomy and the factors that influence its growth: soil, sun, presence of a mother tree, fungi, parasites, beetles... Most of all, the slow yet confirmed trees growth patterns are a real inspiration! 

Totally recommending it!

Alexia

An interestingly different book about the life trees lead in front of our eyes, unbeknownst to us. A walk through the woods will certainly not be the same after having read this, just like it reads on the flap of the dust jacket. Plus, it contains a few beautilful vintage-looking illustrations of the trees mentioned.
I would definitely recommend it to people looking to learn more about nature as a whole society, because trees are not the only members of it -there are insect and animal species that play crucial roles in the survival of our green friends, and also their own.

Ruby Huber

If you’re looking for a page turning read about trees I suggest that instead of this you turn to Lab Girl by Hope Jahren or The Overstory by Richard Powers, two five star reads that blew my mind and touched my heart. Two things this book didn’t really do. 

Here, the author is trying too hard to make trees relatable, at the cost of anthropomorphizing them past the point that even I can tolerate, and I think octopuses should be allowed to run for office!! BUT there is so much fascinating research in this book as well. Read at your own risk I guess.....

Dr. Bitchcraft

I think that, for someone just dipping their toes into pop-science, this book is perfectly fine! I just wanted a more thorough and scientific exploration of something I had a bit of knowledge on and was not only disappointed to learn nothing new, but also found myself frustrated at Wohlleben's anthropomorphic trees. I put the book down on page 6 when he asserted that trees could literally taste insect saliva-- which I considered a terrible way to confuse the subject of trees' chemical reactivity to insect pheromones. The "taste" issue was not the first instance of the author's inaccurate portrayal, either, and I would warn any reader to take his writing with a grain of salt rather than treat it as scientific fact.

Rob Brogan

Really interesting! I love the narrator in the audio version and although - if I'm honest - I tuned out sometimes, I always had a bundle of interesting factoids after each commute home!

I.m. ruzz

Exceptional little book. Really deeply made me rethink how I see trees and woods. I already loved trees (photographically) but they are far more sophisticated than I previously gave them credit for being. This small book would make the world slightly better if everyone read it and that's not nothing. 

He gets a bit zealous from time to time but I didn't find it enough to mark against the overall value of the book.

Les Reynolds

A wonderful book. It offered fascinating insight into how trees grow and live, and are interconnected with each other and the world we live in. Primarily focused on the forests and trees of Central Europe, I’d love to read more about forests in other parts of the world. Made me want to get outside and explore local forests.

In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group. Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

The Hidden Life of Trees What They Feel, how They Communicate : Discoveries from a Secret World

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