It’s one of the most costly actions we take to manage our landscapes – in terms of dollars and environmental damage – and yet we continue to cut down and remove tree debris. Even those that do not pose a danger to people or property.
Basil Camus, its founder Sheet & Edge The tree care company in Raleigh, NC wants us to rein in that obsessive neat, controlling mentality and let the safe ones stand. He believes so much in the role of trees – not just healthy ones, but gnarled ones, or wildlife trees, the dead and dying powerhouses of diversity that are often the first targets for deletion – that he got out of the removal business altogether.
Yes, he has a tree service that does not cut down trees, even dead ones.
His unconventional approach: Let it be.
“Let it participate and help the ecosystem,” Mr Camu said. “When a tree dies, it takes on a second life, with this incredible new community that builds and thrives around it.”
Think of it as reincarnation (albeit in the same body).
The power of the dead and dead trees is one of the most important messages in Mr. Camu’s new book, From Wasteland to Wonder: Easy Ways We Can Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape.
Learning to manage trees throughout their life, as they develop into a final resting place as downed logs, gradually returning organic matter to the soil, is “an easy way to do less and spend less while helping in improving the health of the earth. it is essentially the thesis of the book,” he said.
Mr. Camu’s approach has won praise from Douglas Tallamy, a University of Delaware professor who is a leader in the movement to restore ecosystem function to our landscapes. “Basil’s logic will overcome any lingering doubts you may have had about this approach to landscaping, and provide that kick in the pants so many of us need to take action,” he wrote in an endorsement for the bookwhich Mr. Camu is offering as a free digital download or for $10.75 in hardcover (its cost to print and ship).
All the lessons in “From Wasteland to Wonder” aim to promote “outrageous diversity,” a phrase Mr. Camu borrowed from Michael Phillips, the New Hampshire holistic horticulturist and author of “Mycorrhizal Planet,” who died in 2022.
“I just love this. I just had to use it,” Mr Camu said. “I think dead trees are a perfect example of that. I mean, the number of birds and fungi and beetles and many other things – they all support. It’s pretty wild.”
Pretty wild, indeed. Dens are a place for animals to nest or roost, thanks in large part to the work of primary nesters, especially woodpeckers, who excavate holes that benefit others. Secondary cavity nesters include other birds – teals, tree swallows, various rooks and owls, even wood ducks – as well as flying squirrels, bats and others.
The entanglements provide a perch for hawks, eagles and owls hunting for prey and for some male birds engaged in mating or territorial displays.
Eventually a barrier will deteriorate into a fallen log, providing cover for animals as small as salamanders or as large as bears. Fallen logs also act as “nurse logs” supporting the next generation of seedlings, while the carcasses slowly decay and become part of the soil from which they grew.
Decaying wood serves up a feast for insects and other arthropods that are themselves food for many other animals, fuel for the food chain. Fungi make use of the wood, too, and then beetles feed on the fungi, and amphibians, reptiles, and birds feed on those beetles.
You get the idea, Mr. Camu hopes: Outrageous diversity, all potentially in your backyard.
Reading the leaves of the tree (and the bark and roots)
Most of Mr. Camu’s work is in live tree support, emphasizing three main areas: soil health, structural pruning and annual inspections.
He encourages pruning, ideally from a young age, to promote “a dominant, straight trunk and well-placed branches,” he said, that offer wind resistance. Structural pruning can address many problems, including multiple V-shaped branches that form angles less than 45 degrees to the trunk, creating vulnerability.
Developing a trusted relationship with an arborist can help with this, as well as reading the health of our trees — determining which ones are moving toward senescence, for example, and require a safe, environmentally sensitive transition plan.
Most customer calls are driven by fear, he said, under the assumption that repeal is the answer. A tree has been seen swaying in strong wind (which is normal), or appears to be leaning. Or maybe it seems dangerously large, or too old and disturbing.
None of these things are a definite signal to remove the tree. further investigation is required. Responding to such appeals, Mr. Camus begins his observations at the farthest edges of the tree canopy, looking for signs of decay.
This is very different from seeing fall on the inner branches some distance down the tree. “It’s normal for the inner lower branches to shade out,” he said. “And that distinction between inner and lower versus outer and higher is so important and the first big ‘aha’ for a lot of people.”
Moving down the trunk, he checks to see if large leaves of bark are falling off (assuming it’s not a species with exfoliating bark). Can it detect streams, fermentation aroma, black spots or anything abnormal growing on the surface of the log?
“Don’t count lichen and moss,” he said. “These are normal.”
Going to ground level, he said, he notices that mushrooms are fruiting directly from the roots or the trunk. Certain types of fungi signal concern.
More common, however, are buried root collars. The natural root burst at the base of the tree is very often hidden under wood chips or other mulch piled too close to the trunk and too high (the dreaded volcano mulch) or under too much soil.
“If we can’t see an obvious flare at the base of the trunk,” writes Mr. Camu, “or if it looks like a telephone pole disappearing straight into the ground, we know the root collar is buried—it must be dug up and exposed.” as soon as possible”.
To roughly gauge the condition of the soil around the tree, a long screwdriver is his tool of choice. He calls it “an easy, quick agent for soil health.” In general, the deeper you can drive the screwdriver into the ground with minimal effort, the healthier the soil. He would like to see it go to 10 to 12 inches.
If a tree leans in one direction, it inspects the ground on the opposite side. “If it feels light and spongy and there are roots coming up, that’s almost certainly a falling tree,” he said. “If the soil is very firm and stable and is as solid on this side as on the other side, it is most likely phototropism” — bending toward light.
Can we leave at least one tall log?
If Mr. Camu’s observations determine that a tree has begun its transition — or needs to, for safety — more assessments follow. Will people be playing or walking nearby? Are there adjacent buildings or parking lots?
“Anything to do with people, how close it is and how often,” he said. “From there, we can make a plan.”
If there is hardly any surrounding activity? “Don’t do anything,” he said. “The tree will naturally decay and get the maximum benefit.”
If, on the other hand, a tree must be reduced in height or taken down, an important note: Be sure to wait until after the nesting season, unless there is a danger that requires immediate action.
And Mr Camu suggests considering an alternative to the conventional approach of cutting out every piece of the tree, including pulling or grinding the stump. Instead, leave as much as possible intact—whether it’s a tall stump or a 20-foot wildlife tree—because it will provide a critical ecosystem service.
Another possibility: Can most of the biomass be left on the ground to decompose naturally where the tree once stood, and some branches collected in a brush pile? These are landscape elements that support wildlife.
As he believes in the oldest trees, Mr. Camu defends the younger ones. In 2017 he founded Project Pando, named after a colony of about 50,000 aspen trees in Utah connected by a single root system. Now a non-profit, the group propagates and distributes about 10,000 native seedlings annually from wild-collected seed, mostly to other non-profit organizations and ecological restoration efforts. It also teaches organizations to create similar outreach and distribution programs.
There is a lot of work ahead for Mr. Camu’s tree-centered ecological mission, he knows. But how does he count his moments of success along the way, as he promotes the importance of saving trees that people think should be cut down and planting more native ones?
“It’s when more people have taken those steps and really fallen in love with the life they have in their backyard,” he said. “And they find beauty, they find meaning.”
That’s when they become part of “this movement,” he added, “toward life with other life.”
Margaret Roach is the creator of the website and podcast A way to gardenand a book of the same name.
If you have a question about gardening, email it to Margaret Roach at gardenqanda@nytimes.com and she can answer it in a future column.