How to Read a Tree: Clues & Patterns from Roots to Leaves

Description

'You will never look at a tree in the same way again after reading this mesmerising book. Gooley drops learning as lightly as blossom falls in spring.' - John Lewis-Stempel 'Tristan Gooley has done trees the greatest service.' - Isabella Tree Do two trees ever appear identical? No, but why? Every small difference is a clue. Each tree we meet is filled with signs that reveal secrets about the life of that tree and the landscape we stand in. The clues are easy to spot when you know what to look for, but remain invisible to most people. In How to Read a Tree, you'll discover the simple principles that explain the shapes and patterns you can see in trees and what they mean. And you'll learn rare skills that can be applied every time you pass a tree, whether you are in a town or a wilder spot. As the author of the international bestsellers The Walker's Guide and How to Read Water, Tristan Gooley knows how to uncover the phenomena worth looking for. He has been instructing people in the art of reading trees for two decades and this book includes signs that will not be found in any other book in the world. Once you have learned to see these things it is impossible to unsee them. We will never look at a tree the same way again.

Tristan Gooley is a writer, navigator and explorer. Through his journeys, teaching and writing, he has pioneered a renaissance in the rare art of natural navigation. Tristan has led expeditions in five continents and is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic. He has explored close to home and walked with and studied the methods of tribal peoples in some of the remotest regions on Earth.

'Tristan Gooley has done trees the greatest service. In this gentle, enchanting book he leads us into their language - how to spot their natural tendencies and individual foibles, recognise their responses to stress and ingenious strategies to survive. And with these insights he arouses an even deeper affection and concern for trees - our friends and allies, with whose fate our own is inextricably bound.' * Isabella Tree * 'You will never look at a tree in the same way again after reading this mesmerising book. Gooley drops learning as lighty as blossom falls in spring.' * John Lewis-Stempel * 'Wherever you are - city or wilderness - if you want to understand the secrets of trees you pass, this is the book to read...Tristan has the rare gift of explaining the most complex ideas with humour and deep insight.' * Peter Thomas, Emeritus Reader in Plant Ecology at Keele University, author of Trees *