Book Review: The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben

Wohlleben has given us a sort of Rosetta Stone for trees.

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, by Peter Wohlleben
David Suzuki Institute and Greystone Books Ltd., 9781–77164–248–4, 272 pp., 2015

Nature is a temple to many of us, and we may look at a stand of trees as nature’s cathedral, or a single tree as a much-beloved confidant or teacher. Our connection is spiritual and emotional, and we understand them intuitively. Yet there is another way of understanding trees — scientifically and physically — that can only add to their mystique and our deep love for them. The people who study trees this way have some amazing things to tell us.

Peter Wohlleben is one of these people. He is a forester who tends an environmentally friendly woodland in the Eifel mountains in Germany, following a 20-year career working in the German forestry service. He has used his specialized knowledge and day-to-day experiences and observations to write The Hidden Life of Trees, the tagline of which is “Discoveries from a Secret World.”

Secret, indeed — you need to look very closely to see what really goes on with trees. You need to look below the ground at roots (which interact using fungal, electrical, and…