We all know that trees are good for the environment, but how exactly? Trees clean the air, give off oxygen, and help in a myriad of other ways. Our newly planted tree farm is no different, and as such will be bringing those benefits to our local community, while also providing an added benefit of increased selection at Whispering Hills.
The US Department of Agriculture explains this phenomena, “to keep it simple a tree is comprised of its leaves, stems, trunk and its roots. When you look at a tree, note that about five percent of the tree is comprised of its leaves, 15 percent its stems, 60 percent goes into its trunk and 20 percent is devoted to its roots.”
Continuing, “here is the super hero part. Through a process called photosynthesis, leaves pull in carbon dioxide and water and use the energy of the sun to convert this into chemical compounds such as sugars that feed the tree. But as a by-product of that chemical reaction oxygen is produced and released by the tree. It is proposed that one large tree can provide a day’s supply of oxygen for up to four people.
As reported by the US Department of Agriculture, “in one year a mature tree will absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen in exchange.” This means that when the tree farm at Whispering Hills reaches maturity, it will be sequestering roughly 24 tons of carbon yearly. Trees keep this carbon stored in their fibers, and once it is locked within the body of the tree, the carbon will stay there for the life of the tree.
Not only will the tree farm at Whispering Hills, which will be growing maple, crabapple, oak, cypress, birch, ginkgo, serviceberry and lilac, be capturing carbon out of the air–it will also be actively cleaning the air and giving off life-giving oxygen. Our tree farm will not only be a win for our customers, but will also be a benefit to our local environment.
Whispering Hills Garden and Landscape Center is a full service landscape center and nursery located in Cary, Illinois. Stop in today to schedule a Spring 2022 cleanup.
Links:
www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/03/17/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe
