A bench is an invitation to take a load off, an invitation to pause. If you have time to use a bench you’re in good shape. This means you have time to be, time to contemplate, time to observe. I support this. I promise that when you put a bench in the shade life gets a little bit better.

Find a beautiful but underutilized spot in your yard, find a bench or make one, sit. Watch what happens. You will see more and appreciate more- you will see your own life from a slightly different perspective. Give a gift to yourself and those you love.

If you do not have a shady place for your bench you will need to first plant a tree, or plant several. This is good- trees make quick shade if we let them. At this time more than ever we see that we need a bench in our yard. Think it over for a moment and then make a commitment to make a park in your yard.

Start by taking a walk around the yard. Bring a folding chair and test some vantage points- test drive some shade. If you find that you need some more shade, shop trees. Look around at your neighborhood when you’re out for a walk. Which trees do you love? You can have one of those too, I promise. Do some research and see various specimens of this same tree at different stages and in different settings. See what conditions she likes.

Get ready to plant a tree, place a bench, and enjoy the park in your yard. Build a daily taste of retirement into your schedule. Watch the trees grow. Retire every day to the park in your yard and watch the seasons change from your front row seat. We all have season tickets- don’t forget to use them.

The bench at Treetroit 1 has become a centering point for lots of neighbors. More benches / more time to sit.

People are finding the bench and the Arb. This is really exciting. This gentleman, Mike, comes way across town to sit here. He tells me it's his second favorite spot after Belle Isle. And then his friends showed up- they met up here. And the one guy is about to turn 90.

Wawyeyawen is a word that means “circle” in the Potawatomi language, the nation whose unceded territory Detroit is built on. Wawyeto means “circle we make.” 

We had a fantastic 50th Earth Day! So many beautiful people came out to plant so many beautiful trees. Because the treescape we created is so large we were all able to collaborate while keeping our personal distance. Most of us were so eager to just be outside doing something, and seeing people that the cold temperature didn’t matter. We had to expand the design to allow for 10 more tree planters to participate. We completed the circle with the Beeches, Sycamores, Dawn Redwoods, and Red Maples, then expanded to include three Siver Lindens on each side, a corner planting of a River Birch and two Cedars, and two Arbor Vitae. Before we left birds were stopping in the trees to check it out. Where there was once only mowed grass there is a small organized grove calling, “land here, land here!” This is perfect too because this treescape connects the Aqrboretum to Callahan Playfield, which is now a bird park created with the energies of the Detroit Audubon Society.

This planting is not formally part of the Arboretum, but is adjacent to Treetroit 1. This planting came about when the owner of these three lots mentioned his intention to return them to the Potawatomi. I thought this could really give us something to think about on this monumental Earth Day, right? What state would the Earth be in if there were no European colonization of this land? The next thought was can we return them better than we found them? I don’t mean better than they were originally, but better than they are now and have been for decades. So, we offer this land with a giant ring of trees that will be a habitat and a place of reflection. We do not yet know what giving these lots back looks like in a bureaucratic and legal sense, but we do know that we have made our offering and created a thing of beauty, a symbol of life and love for Mother Earth. I can already imagine what this space will look like on the 100th Earth Day.

We designed a treescape that we hope will help passersby for generations consider trees a little more than if the trees were in simple rows or clusters. One sees the circle and feels invited to step into the empty space created. We are very excited to watch the various forms grow together. For this scape we created a 70 foot diameter circle of equally spaced trees. We chose 70 because this was the year that the first Earth Day was globally celebrated. This also made the quarters 50 feet between the anchor trees. Of course, this was the 50th Earth Day.

For more information on Unceded Territories and their acknowledgment, see https://native-land.ca/territory-acknowledgement/

“If we think of territorial acknowledgments as sites of potential disruption, they can be transformative acts that to some extent undo Indigenous erasure. I believe this is true as long as these acknowledgments discomfit both those speaking and hearing the words. The fact of Indigenous presence should force non-Indigenous peoples to confront their own place on these lands.” – Chelsea Vowel, Métis, Beyond Territorial Acknowledgements

———— Photographs by Garrett MacLean (standing on top of Bat Mountain) ———

Happy April, Everyone!

Treetroit 2 is in the beginning stages of implementation!

We are looking for Volunteers to help clean up the site (cut overgrowth, feed the wood chipper, pick up garbage), lay a brick path, dig holes for trees and plant them, run wheelbarrows of wood chips around, and just sit with the trees.

At this point, volunteers have been working independently simultaneously, two or three at a time. The space is about 10,000 square feet. so there is plenty of space to observe current standards of personal distance. We are scheduling the work around availability and comfort of volunteers. Please speak up about which jobs interest you and how independently you prefer to work- we can set you up with tools and job description and allow time to work completely alone if this is what you are looking for. We all like to work alone at times.

It is timely that we are planting our first evergreen arb in these times. This portion of the Arboretum will offer us all its antiviral and antibacterial benefits- it is centered around a mature White Pine. Working and sitting under this tree we breathe the wonderful aerosols she puts out and drops to the floor of long soft pine needles. With this project we will create a grove of White Pines underneath and around this tree planted fifty years ago in what was then a neat backyard. We are so grateful to be able to honor this tree in such fashion. And we are extra excited that the daughter of the man who planted her, Miss Sandy, still lives right across the street from it. She is delighted to see the clean up and hopes we uncover her father’s roses and tulips. We are removing several very wild trees that have been both growing and dying close to the White Pine’s trunk and through her canopy. We will give this matriarch something to mother about, by planting five young White Pines within the network of her root system, building a strong interconnected grove. We are adding a few cedars to the design to amplify both the antiviral effect and the lesson of this 2020 arb. The idea is that trees produce antimicrobials to protect themselves and when we hang around trees they protect us too. There is a lot of great research into the many benefits of trees and if you are interested to learn more about tree aerosols check out the work of Forest Medicine expert Diana Beresford-Kroeger and environmental immunologist and “Forest Bathing” researcher Dr. Quing Li.

This project will likely go into the summer, so if you need any outdoor time where you don’t have to worry about catching anything. If you are into the clean air, birdsong and space come work, or sit. Bench first! If anyone has a bench they are looking to give away, this would be a great place to donate it to! Email treetroit@gmail.com, and we’ll make sure you get to be a part of this park!

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We are also looking for volunteers for park maintenance through the spring and the summer. This may be something you personally are into, and maybe you work for a company who likes to send their employees out into the neighborhoods on volunteer days. These tasks include pulling weeds, picking up garbage, edging the grass and mowing.

If you would like to help, either fill out the form on the website, or email treetroit@gmail.com.

THANK YOU!!!!