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

Classic garden book. It really digs into the chemical and social interactions of plants— something scientists are only just beginning to understand. Buy it!

This is an EXCELLENT book to own, read, and return to as a reference book. I have given it as gifts and have highly recommended it to others. It is a love story about the trees communicating underground and above the ground.

I wish I’d had this to read years ago. I support what he is trying to do, but I suspect greed and money will win out as it has so far. I’m a lifelong outdoor person so I appreciate his insight. There are other good books on forests out there but this is the first I’ve had access to that is from a scientific ecological view point.

Very good condition 👏

I loved every detail of this intricate book. The author states it like a story, almost in a Bob Ross way. He uses paint to create a picture of what life is in the forest.

Wish I had read this when I was younger, should be required reading in school!

It has been a long time since I read a nonfiction book that truely delighted, intrigued and inspired me.Well written to be easily understood and get across information and ideas.

I’ve talked to the trees on our property for years. Now I am in awe that they likely listen. My relationship with our forest home has been enhanced greatly by reading this fascinating book.

a thought provoking look at trees, our impact, their impact, and the cooperative nature of the world around us. Loved it.

If all the claims he makes are actually true, it would be instructive. But what is the research, what proof behind all these *facts*?Do trees detect different insect species saliva and react selectively? Do they have nerves in the root tips that convey electrical communication signals at a rate of one third inch per second? Do oak trees feel pain? I would really like to know if any of these claims have merit, or did he just imagine it? A nice index referencing any scientific studies that establish these stories as fact would go a long way in convincing me that this was not just an attempt to indoctrinate soft minded gullible people into a new make believe world. It would be great if these claims had merit, maybe they do, but I would really like to know how anyone succeeded in proving an oak feels pain or that it has some sort of slow moving nervous system.As anyone who follows the news knows, disinformation any half truths are cleverly disguised and spoon fed to a public that doesn’t bother to fact check but just mixes together both truth and BS into an unreliable stew of confused adulterated mental images.There are some references at the end. They should have been referred to in footnotes while reading the book.

I enjoyed this book, and learned quite a bit. It is focused mostly on deciduous trees in Europe, but the information is generally applicable to deciduous and coniferous trees worldwide. It is, at times, overwrought with emotionalism and anthropomorphism…but not to the point of distraction. It’s easy to read and learn a great deal about trees, how they live, communicate, and exist in their own societies. Quite fascinating and insightful. I recommend this book.

Wow, one of the most fascinating introductions EVER. Facts and science are woven into a narrative that captivates the heck outta me.The eco-dynamic system of connection with each other and nature, the world of trees is magical to me in The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World (The Mysteries of Nature, 1), by Peter Wohllebe because it's so unreal yet scientifically facts.Living through Derecho 140 mph wind storm in the midwest included generations of trees. Over 60% of the city’s trees are either gone or dying and require removal. The undertaking to plant more is enormous to begin developing a new canopy over many many years.I was attracted to this book imagining there might be something I could learn to relate to the worst land storm in history's death wind through so many trees especially.This book taught me trees are so incredibly intelligent that they will release extra seeds in the tomb of a crisis like ours to repopulate. They'll strategize the entire regrowth. They talk to one another. Yes, they communicate.Not the loner street trees. Sad for the Right of Way variety after reading this book.But, the wild trees. I'm amazed at the dynamic existence of so many varieties.I recollect people saying to me, adults when I was small, don't pull off leaves. How would you feel if someone did that to you?Now, this makes total sense.One of my best friends is a tree expert. Even has a small tree farm in his backyard. Grows special variety over several years and finds homes for them. Like at arboretum or parks.Not even John knows some of these incredible facts. I’m excited for you him to read and discuss.What you can expect from this book is not only facts and details, but the truth about nature having a sense of community and animation in ways that will truly amaze you.Finding out trees can cause their leaves to become toxic when Giraffes eat them was a little freaky. And, the scent omitted informs other trees downwind. So they do similarly. And, the Giraffes know what up so they seek unsuspecting ignorant trees upwind who will be oblivious... Crazy right?This book is so fantastic on audio I didn't make it past the introduction before ordering a hardcover via Amazon. Borrowed on the Overdrive app from the library, but can not resist adding this to my library collection to share for years to come.My life’s been dedicated to stewardship of nature. Reusing resources to help keep things from landfills. Creating less waste. Conserving resources. Enjoying. Learning and being a part of.Like, created Pollinator gardens. SO many bees visit, plus butterflies and other insects.Never have I ever experienced nature in the same way as in this book. The added depth of perspective will help me nurture trees newly, as well as my gardens. Find new ways to nurture stewardship.I've been trying to figure out why this book is so fascinating to me. I think knowing trees are alive, but not an insect or animal or any number of creatures. I know they live, but until this book had no relation to them as communal, bright, interesting, intelligent, and creatively complex communicator beings.I like the essence of a wild tree is deliberate, paced slowly, determined, and communal. I think we can all use friends and family like this who support us.Human being's identity of what intelligence is confronts, for me, intelligent design at a whole new level upon reading this book.The section I recollect on communities fostering trees in ways that invite them to thrive communally provided incredibly touching information that made me wanna foster similar outcomes. Read the book how you can, too :)With human beings requiring so much of the earth's resources for wood, we have surrendered qualities for generations to come and will miss out on them except in what's affectionately named vintage items. Or repurposed furniture to homes.Remembering as a child being able to access materials like mahogany and cherry easily. Now, it's specialty order or limited supply.Particleboard and pressed wood are skyrocketing in price. With new developments in technology and the ability to 3D print homes, I predict the future of trees is uncertain.The ability to change the trajectory of our future with evidence laid out in scientific facts like these could provide the ideas we need to thrive with our three friends together in ways that build a better future together, in my opinion.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💯

I read Peter Wohlleben's book The Hidden Life of Trees with great interest. Anyone who enjoys being around trees and is also interested in science will cherish this book. It provides many insights and a real appreciation for trees.The insights fall into three categories. The first is the social life of trees, something I didn't appreciate before. It appears that trees communicate with each other through their root systems and through the fungi that interconnect them. They also use scents and chemicals to communicate with each other. This communication can involve a mother tree schooling the younger trees in their growth, inhibiting them from growing too quickly. It also has a competitive aspect where, for instance, a Beech tree neighboring an Oak might compete with it for water and eventually sunlight. Trees that are together in a forest can modulate their overall climate and protect each other much better than an isolated tree. In fact, forests overall are responsible for much of water's movement throughout the earth's ecosystem.The second insight from the book is the basic science underlying how trees work. Here, Wohlleben talks about how water makes its way up trees. The full process is still a mystery, but Wohlleben describes the basic processes of capillary action, osmosis, and transpiration. He also talks about photosynthesis chemistry and why we see most trees as green but a few as red.The final insight of the book is the practical things to know when you are in the forest. Why do you see mistletoe on the top of a tree crown? What is the effect of ivy curling around a tree as a somewhat parasitic agent? Why is moss usually on the rainy side of a tree? And, when a tree dies, why do you often see other things come up in its place?Overall, this was a very illuminating book that I enjoyed reading, and I continue to think about concepts from this book when I take walks in the woods.

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, translated by Jane BillinghurstI must admit: I am not certain what to think about this book. On the one hand, it is very interesting and very readable. On the other hand, the anthropomorphism of trees is bothersome and in cases, beyond reason. One thing is certain: the book was written by a man who loves trees and trees are his life as a Forstmeister in the Eifel of Germany.The reader should realize that by the end of the book, there is a political message to this book that was being softly presented which I find controversial as well as objectionable. Wohlleben is selling the idea of building long term (half a millennium or longer,) forests preserves with minimal interference by humans. Towards the end of the book, he explains why he has anthropomorphized the descriptions he has given: In the last Chapter he states, “Although this point of view has elicited a lot of head shaking in the international community, I, for one, welcome breaking down the moral barriers between animals and plants. When the capabilities of vegetative beings become known, and their emotional lives and needs are recognized, then the way we treat plants will gradually change, as well.” [page 244] This message sneaks up on the reader and is the reason why this book is not getting five stars.Wohlleben provides considerable detail that trees are sentient beings. He shows that they respond to various stimuli much the same as animals but on a longer timescale. Also, he states that trees form communities where individual trees communicate with each other, take care of each other and share resources with each other. He believes trees feel pain. Wohlleben asserts that trees have a nervous system that receives and sends signals electrically. Trees have memory and act based on that memory. Thus, the distinction being trees and animals is blurred: he uses terms generally reserved for human and other zoological definitions. For example, he presents evidence that tree seedlings in Australia were shown to respond to 220 Hertz sounds by orienting their root tips; therefore, he concludes they “heard” it. This same anthropomorphism of tree responses is copious throughout the book.According to Wohlleben, trees in a community act symbiotically with fungi in and around the root systems of the forest. They communicate with each other using olfactory, visual and electrical signals. For example, a tree attacked by an animal will respond by emitting bitter compounds and the chemical ethylene. This is “smelled” by other trees in the same area (out to one hundred feet or more,) causing the other trees to also emit bitter compounds. The result is that trees are no longer desirable to the animals. The forest community shares “friendship” among the trees. The evidence for this, he asserts is that trees will so far as to feed each other through their root systems. He claims those with an abundance of sugar will hand some over to trees that need it. In such a way they are equalizing the differences between the weak and strong!Wohlleben claims that trees plan their procreation at least a year in advance. “PLAN?” Again, anthropomorphism. Many trees do not bloom every year: they have “mast years” where in a given period, there will be an abundance of fruit or nuts such, it appears, some will survive the onslaught of animal feedings. Trees do this as a community. He claims that conifers, which seed every year take a different strategy since animals such as wild boar do not eat the cones. I wished he would have considered the squirrels and bear that feed on white bark pine nuts but perhaps he has never been to the alpine regions where these species are.If one ignores the anthropomorphic terms of what is occurring in the forest, there is a lot that can be learned from this book. For example, trees need to grow slowly and be forced to do so if they are to grow strong and healthy over their half century or more of life. Trees in plantations are stunted in their growth and do not reach their mature lives in a healthy manner. Trees in a plantation will die off if left to their own. Furthermore, trees planted in cities, either along boulevards or in parks are often stranded and do not develop into healthy trees for the most part and must be replaced before the lifetimes that are achieved in forests. Much as to do with the way they grow and they way their root pockets are truncated. In addition, trees are often selected from the wrong environments for their growth.This would have been an outstanding book if the author had not resorted to describing trees in animalistic terms and if the author had avoided presenting a political message in the last few chapters. Wohlleben clearly knows the subject and has first hand experience. His love of trees influences the complete book. I found the book enjoyable until the political message started to become evident. Thus instead of one star, I am giving the book three stars.

This book gives a good overview of interactions among trees and between trees and other organisms in Central European forests. It is well written and easily readable. The author gets his points across without getting bogged down in scientific jargon. It is a good, relaxing read that will help you understand his forests. To me, it was particularly interesting how parent trees limit the rate of growth of their children and how trees can feed other trees, even if they are just stumps.Having said that, a potential buyer should be aware of a few things when making a decision:The types of forests described in this book are somewhat limited. It describes forests with relatively few species of (mostly deciduous) trees, such as are common in northern Europe and northern North America. For example, I read a book about tropical forests before a trip to Costa Rica. Unlike forests described in this book, tropical forests have many, many more species of trees in a given area. The young are most successful when they grow as far from their parents as possible, so there is likely no direct interaction after the seed is released. And, interactions between organisms don't seem as amicable. Such as, a strangler fig will use another tree to start its life, and then it kills the original tree, leaving the fig tree looking like it is on stilts.I think this book should have been called the "Hidden Life of Deciduous Trees (and some conifers)" to be clear, or at least mentioned in the subtitle. It doesn't make it a bad book, it just should be clearly specified.Also, the author often attributes emotions to trees. I think the reader should be careful here. I recently read "How Emotions are Made," by Lisa Feldman Barrett. I took a couple relevant things from that book. First, it is really important to define what is meant by emotions, different people define emotions very differently. Based on Dr. Barrett's definition of emotions, trees would not experience emotions, because they would not have developed the concept of specific emotions. But, even if one uses a broader definition of emotion than hers, there is another problem. That is, second, it is unwise to assume the emotions of another organism based simply on observing behavior. Just because a particular emotion would sometimes be expressed in a certain way in you or me, doesn't mean another is expressing that same emotion just because we observe similar behavior in them. I think the greatest benefit that the emotional descriptions in this book offer are that they give us readers emotional concepts, which we can then use when we visit a forest, so we can appreciate the forests more. And, I think that is plenty.So, I recommend reading the book, just be aware of what to expect, so you will appreciate it.

Prepare to suspend your hard science beliefs in biology and botany. To appreciate this wondrous book requires a willingness to let your imagination run free. The book- The Hidden Life of Trees - is subtitled “What They Feel, How They Communicate; and Discoveries from a Secret World.” The author has strong credentials, with more than 20 years in-depth experience in a variety of forest settings. Beginning with a chapter on “Friendships,” the author weaves a provocative and joyous tapestry of the intensely critical and personal social life of trees. All forms of trees, stumps and all, are interconnected with its forest brethren. The premise is that a tree is not a forest; a forest is a community that creates its own ecosystem. To remain a healthy community, each tree must think not only for itself, but for the other (tree) members of the community, nourishing and supporting each other in this common goal. It is imperative that the community be kept intact. One of the basic building blocks of the forest community is friendship. This visceral bonding is further elaborated in subsequent chapters:The Language of Trees, Love, The Tree Lottery, Forest Etiquette, and Burnout. These esoteric notions challenge the reader to see trees as sentient. Wohlleben adds further credibility by including a very healthy “Notes” section imbuing the book with scientific stature. Trees are not mere commodities. This is a case the author makes throughout the book. Not only are they essential to the world in general, they more importantly, are essential to each other. Wohlleben talks about an ‘interconnected global network of forests’ which is essential to all aspect of Nature. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. On every page you can feel the author’s bond to his trees. He cogently and subtly draws us into a new web of being. An alternative gestalt with which to further engage with our world. Trees are adventures to be experienced, secrets to be unlocked. The amazing stories of trees are out there waiting for you to join the conversation.

I live literally a stone's throw from thousands of acres of forest lands filled primarily with Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar as well as Cottonwood, Birch, even the occasional Madrone trees. Before I listened to this book (then read it, and now plan to listen to it again), I thought of them simply as tall, majestic things that surround me as I engage in two of my favorite past times: trail running and hiking.Now, I can't help butfret over the trees planted along the street, with their roots trying to make their way through over-compacted soil in cramped quarters. I worry about the future of the bent, warped, not-growing perfectly straight to the sky trees because I know that they are more likely to be brought down in a wind storm than their straighter neighbors. I think about the bark beetle. I feel a little bit sad about the pitch dripping down the damaged trunks, the black on the bark from root rot. I think about the birds that I love damaging the bark of trees and allowing fungus and/or other organisms in that might hurt the trees. Truly: I think of them as human-like, super slow growing organisms. And I like thinking about them like that, even though I question the idea that trees can think.Author Peter Wohlleben loves trees. What I've learned from reading his book has made me love them too. I especially enjoyed learning about the super slow rate of growth of trees, how mother trees provide little light and protect the small trees (her babies!) until one day...she dies (falls down dead), giving them a chance to, even they don't dawdle as youngsters tend to do, grow in the available sunlight that will soon, once neighboring trees fill in the empty space by extending their branches. I loved learning about the many diseases and other problems that can kill trees, the amazing skills they possess (putting out chemicals to make creatures that eat their leaves leave) and every bit about the way they help trees of the same species thrive.I could go on and on, but what I most want to say about this book: it's one of my all-time favorite non-fiction books about nature. It has made me appreciate trees more than I ever would have had I not read it. It has made me love trees!Also excellent: Tides by Jonathan White, Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

Why people have to give a book one star only because it's "above their understanding" is beyond me. That one star should go to the reviewer, not to the book. Then, about five people gave this book rave reviews accompanied by two stars. ????? And then there were reviewers who first cited their multiple PhD's, BS's and Masters degrees, to show they are REAL scientists, and then went on to say that that is why they are all rattled and horrified by the simplicity and anthropomorphism of Wohlleben's approach.Let's please grow up. A grey and dour, soulless "scientific" approach to a subject will not engage average mortals, and those are the ones who need to know. The wish for such an approach doesn't identify you as a scientist either; it identifies you as a grey and dour, soulless person with no interest in mystery. This book is not written for you.This book is written for normal people, who are interested in trees and nature and not afraid of learning facts that upset their worldview, and who are willing to accept that there are things we cannot, yet or fully, explain. This relatively recent field, of the interconnectedness of trees and of the forest as a giant organism, is unbelievably interesting and will, no, must, have far reaching consequences for our thinking about the environment, and by extension for our thinking about ourselves. I am not a scientist, and I don't care for a purely scientific approach to life. I am also not afraid of anthropomorphism - it is a valuable tool for us humans (anthropoi) to understand the world around us. Already 2,500 years ago Protagoras revolutionized philosophical thinking by positing that "man is the measure of all things". For most of us, that will remain the norm for a long time to come.Also, trees are not aliens, they are more like us than we think. There is a lot in the trees' behavior that they share with us. The need to survive powerfully and procreate is common between man and tree.Wohlleben writes beautifully and lyrically. That is not a sin and doesn't take away from his being a consummate scientist. One can be a scientist and at the same time be in awe of mystery.In a very recent interview with The Guardian, Wohlleben said "scientists over the last 200 years have taught us that nature works without soul.” This book successfully discredits that approach, which has been ready for the scrap heap for too long.This is a terrific book that can be fascinating to scientists and non-scientists alike. It has enough footnotes to allow for wider study of the subject for the intellectually adventurous.The collaboration of Wohlleben and Dr Suzanne Simard of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada has led to a TV documentary on the subject, "Intelligent Trees". The DVD is available on Amazon.