immune-system diseases and allergy problems.
Much open land is being lost to development; it has fallen victim to
money and an increase in population. Historically, common land in
Britain was often unlawfully sold off by the crown and the church; more
recently, footpaths have been plowed up by farmers and other
landowners. Land has been given over to intensive farming, industry, and
housing. But many Britons are now dedicated to reopening footpaths and
preserving what little countryside we have left; some churchyards and
cemeteries are now a haven for nature. Spending time out in nature will
inspire us to save and create more. We should also remember that trees
and plants are intelligent enough to adapt to changes in the environment,
responding with new reactions in order to survive, protecting themselves
from or transforming pollution. As major oxygenators, trees are very
important. Thus replanting is essential in order to keep the earth’s
atmosphere, and all who live off it, healthy.
Something that has increasingly struck me is that calcium-depleted
soils produce sickly, weak trees that are prone to disease, while calcium-
rich soils produce the opposite. Trees fl ourish in mineral- and nutrient-
rich soils, the larger-leafed deciduous trees needing more nutrients than
coniferous varieties. It is possible that we are in need of another ice age,
in which the rocks and earth are moved and crushed to replenish
nutrients the soil. Unfortunately, glaciers can take nine hundred centuries
to remineralize the earth, and then a few more centuries would be needed
to warm the ground up enough to grow anything again! But general loss
of nutrient-rich, undisturbed soils is certainly a huge factor in the loss of
tree health. Interestingly enough, calcium is one of the most needed
minerals for our own bodies — another similarity we have to plants. Like
all things, trees and humans are part of the same blueprint of nature.
Plant Aid
Although some trees and plants are being killed off by humankind’s
pollution, this faithful fl ora continues to step in to help with the mess we
have gotten ourselves into! In evolutionary terms, humans developed only
because of the presence of the plant kingdom.
In the past fi fty years, Britain has suffered the destruction of 97 percent
of its wildfl ower meadows, 75 percent of its open heath, 96 percent of its
lowland peat bogs, and 190,000 miles of hedgerow — enough to circle the
earth seven times. Studies have shown that plants seem to provide the
simplest and easiest way for combating the effects of airborne pollution;
for instance, trees that have large areas of leaves with fairly rough or hairy
surfaces are effective pollution traps. Hawthorn, with its open and
branching shape, is a good “trapper,” using its canopy like a net. Dust that
settles on the edge of a denser canopy, like that provided by a lime or
celebrating nature’s alchemy and fragrance 15