Growing Greener Cities: A Tree Planting Handbook. - book reviews

American Forests, May-June, 1992 by Wallace Kaufman

If your town doesn't have enough trees, this easy-to-read book packed with concise stories and how-to-do-it information can solve the problem. After a quick introduction about what has been done for cities past and present, by page 34 we are on step one of how to plant a single city tree or how to reforest your entire neighborhood.

Urban tree culture is different from rural forestry, and this book faces all the realities from pavement and politics to vandalism. It even has the guts to give an honest answer to the people who say trees cause pollution. Trees do emit hydrocarbons, but their contribution to smog is less than their protective effect as shade and filters, reducing air pollution from cars and heating plants.

If you want to plant just one tree, here is the list of tools, techniques, and a discussion of what trees are best suited to your needs. If you are inspired to spread the shade around the block, across the city, or around the world, the book offers addresses and phone and FAX numbers for organizations affiliated with Global ReLeaf.

With this book, any literate nomad from the Sahara Desert could become a tree planter in Chicago, Montreal, Moscow, or Mogadishu.