The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate-- Discoveries from a Secret World: 1 (The Mysteries of Nature)

Gave this book to a person who is in toy tree plantation. He really enjoyed the book.

I use it as self inspiration to enhance the quality of my life far from the world we live in.

Such sensitive thoughts much much needed for today and for the generations ahead... A must read.

English translation of a german work . The book looks alluring! Although there is this ugly tint on the spine. Brought to try a new genre. Yet to read it.

The author writes based observation in a fashion of Simile-- and explains how and why the activities in the forest appears to be so. The observation of the author are thoughtful as he is a keen observer who draws meaning from each instances from the wild....

Purchased it for my mother, who loved Botany in college, & generally reads in Bengali only. She enjoyed it, wants to try more from the author.

This is a very good book to read about trees in general and understand their place on our planet further. The book has focused more on trees found in temperate regions but that did not decrease the fun and interest in reading this book. Makes a good gift for children to someone interested in this topic or for children. The book brings out hidden aspects of trees' lives that a common man may not generally be aware of.

This is an amazing book for a plant and tree lover. Entire content of the book is written in a new format which is new to all book and flora lovers. After reading the book which is not fast read , one looks at the plants with a new perspective as if they have real sensory , memory parts just like other living beings. the content has to be slowly read to understand and absorb what author is trying to say.It does leave unhappy feelings about what we are doing to plants and the natural forests without knowing the psychology and physiology of the plants.For a lay person it may sound all funny but for the nature lover this book is a boon.You just have to read and contemplate on what have you read and the new windows open.The only weak point in this book is , the author should have concentrated a little bit on tropical forests too, then the book will be complete.

I had been meaning to read The Hidden Life of Trees for some time now, and finally made the opportunity. Broadly speaking, it did not disappoint, except in two specific areas that I'll talk about later.Peter Wohlleben has worked with trees for years, mostly in Germany, and is convinced that they exhibit behaviours far more complex than we usually reckon, behaviours that we normally associate with higher animals and birds than with plants. He describes how they communicate, both chemically through scent and electrically via their root systems and fungal symbiotes. They can also support each other in times of hardship and old age, count daylight hours, perceive environmental changes and opportunities, and remember important facts in order to shape future actions. It all makes for fascinating reading, and the material is well worth exploring.What also came home to me was how little we know about the life of trees, largely because the timescale they live on is so slow compared to ours. But another factor which Peter highlights many times is that many of us never meet a tree in its natural state - as one part in a naturally regulated and extensive forest. Isolated trees, or those in small stands, or those living in managed woodland, are all constrained to live unnatural lives, so their growth and actions are as distorted from natural as ours would be if we were kept away from human company as we grew up. It's a rather sobering thought, that our typical treatment of trees might easily be considered cruelty.Peter also highlights areas where our grasp of ordinary tree biology is very weak. It is common knowledge that trees draw water and nutrients out of the soil using their roots, and deliver it to their leaves and growing shoots - for some trees this is a journey of tens, or even a couple of hundred feet. It comes as a surprise to read that we don't actually know how they do this, and that the normal explanations of osmosis, capillary action, or transpiration cannot possibly account for the heights reached.One of the most vivid parts was Peter's attempt to get to linguistic grips with the slowness of the life cycles of trees. He describes very effectively the grand migrations of forests south and north as the ice ages have come and gone, and the stages by which newly available soil is occupied first by the little plants, then by comparatively fast outlier trees, and finally by the true forests. On this timescale, some kinds of trees help one another and grow together, while others hinder and displace each other. It would make a good game, perhaps, as well as a good read, in which environmental and other external changes drive constant accommodation and negotiation.I mentioned two things that put me off the book. The first is the writing style, which for the first half is quite pedestrian. I fully appreciate that Peter may not be writing in his native language, and the wealth of ideas kept me persevering when the writing was dull - perhaps it would have been good to have employed a co-writer to help. The second was that I would have really liked some speculation about causes, in the many areas where we don't know for sure. Peter seems committed to writing only what he is confident can be tied to evidence - which is a worthy goal in itself - but given his great experience in the field, I would have liked it more if he had included his guesses, intuitions, and suppositions.All things considered, though, The Hidden Life of Trees is a fascinating book to delve into, perhaps as a starting point for other reading.

Many of us have an inner feeling and connection with the world of trees and the environment. This fascinating insight in to the underground world of trees comes alive through the author's knowledge and great understanding brought about by his enthusiasm for the subject that becomes absorbing. I started with the summary version and was left disappointed as it lacked the narrative and was more factual with no depth but this book leads you along the path of an explorer that opens up a whole new hidden world of which we have little knowledge. I highly recommend this book if you care for the environment and are a nature lover as this will change your outlook and you will never look at a tree and plants in the same way as you did before. There is so much we don't know about trees and this book opens a door to explore a new world that has been going on for centuries upon centuries and continues although with more and more difficulty as man defaces the landscape, this affect changes the pattern of nature and wildlife. It's a must read!

Everyone should make time to read this book. It satisfies the soul. I live a very simple life and this book talks to me like no other. It sounds namby pamby but honestly, read it and understand the place trees have in this universe. I have loaned this book to a much younger relative, who typically has read crime novels and the like. She contacted me after reading and said " thank you for telling me to read this book. I think you just changed my life"!

Mawkish, sentimental, not one piece of scientific evidence given, anthropomorphic attributes endlessly applied, I don't know if it's the translation or just a shallow superficial writing style that makes this an uncomfortable read

An absolutely wonderful book, in an accessible, readable way tells the story of the collaboration in a multi-species forest ecosystem. I deeply loved this book, and the writing style is eminently readable and emanates a contagious empathy for the forest ecosystem whilst tracing the author's personal story of going from "traditional forestry" with forest as a factory producing wood pulp to a holistic understanding of the forest as a living ecosystem a meta-organism.One of those books which in a subtle way alters your perception of reality and deepens your understanding of nature and thus of humanity itself.Profound without any attempt to be so.I wish I had read this when I was younger.