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Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

bbc.co.uk

181–190 of 218 posts

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#181
post #62
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The goal is to increase the biomass. There is no reason it stays constant. More soil, more forest, higher trees. I tried to find literature, but came back empty handed, on whether it is better to let tree grows on a parcel, or cut grass regularly and let it compost, adding biomass to it.

>whether it is better to let tree grows on a parcel, or cut grass regularly and let it compost, adding biomass to it. Of those two options, trees. Compost does not sequester carbon in and of itself. That's a wishful thinking myth that is based on a lack of understanding of soil. Compost is organic matter, in various stages of life, death and decay. We want soil to have more organic matter. So people assumed adding co…

Thanks! I was looking for that kind of answers!

So does that mean that at any given place, there won't be soil for deeper than the roots go? What happens to the soul if all the roots die or are removed (assuming it is not washed away by water)? Does it decay into CO2?

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#182

I did a rough spreadsheet some time back based on this 1998 EPA carbon sequestration worksheet [1] and found that an average person from a high carbon output country needs about 600-1000 trees to offset their carbon output. There are about 3 trillion trees for a population of 7 billion people for an average of 428 trees per person, so that means you have to make up the delta of about 172 to 572 trees over the course…

New Zealand currently has a programme to plant one billion trees in the next 10 years, about 250 trees per person, so this doesn't seem at all unreasonable. https://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-and-programmes/forestry/plan...

https://youtu.be/3VZSJKbzyMc

This guy built a whole forest.

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#184
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a stupid thought yesterday that I need to run numbers on, but I wonder if following would be possible: Allocate some large area of ground for planting fast-growing trees. Dig a large and deep hole in the middle; something like 20 meters in diameter x 500 meters in depth. Let the trees grow; when they're mature, cut them down, throw into the hole, and throw a bunch of dirt (from the mound you made by digging the…

No, because the buried wood would decompose. Decomposing wood releases its stored carbon as carbon dioxide, which will slowly evaporate through the covering dirt. One scheme that actually would work is to convert the wood to coal, then burying it. That could be done without adding any energy by using old-fashioned methods for charcoal burning. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal_burner Because charcoal is chemic…

If it's buried under enough dirt, there won't be enough oxygen for it to decompose.

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#185
How about like, urban farming? If I was to grow my own tomatoes and peppers and onions, like, to make a badass salsa, is that helping sequester carbon or no?

I admit my front lawn is like...embarrasing. It's nothing but grass and one single tree. If I was to really go nuts on it, would that help?

It wouldn't be such a bad future if everyone's lawns were required by law to have a few trees.

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#187
Trees can be planted a lot easier than you probably think (e.g. cuttings from existing trees). Trees grow best in established forests or areas with shrubby growth, as this indicates the soil is generally more fungal than bacterial, which trees prefer.

Check out the efforts of Akiva Silver and Geoff Lawton on YouTube. Also:

http://www.woodlanders.com/episodes

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#188

N.B. Crazy idea follows: I wonder if there would be a away for the government to allow people to purchase land at a reduced cost and tax-free (sales and property taxes) for the sole purpose of planting trees. Land purchased this way would be legally protected against the government's power of eminent domain/expropriation [0]. Sale of the said land would be restricted in the same way. If someone did want to develop th…

A couple of similar mechanisms already exist.

One way to do this is through a conservation easement, which essentially splits off the right to develop some land and sells/donates that right to a land trust or the government. You retain ownership of the land itself, but this restriction becomes part of the title, so it runs with the land and binds you and future owners to its terms. In exchange, the donation is tax deductible (or the sale nets you money) and the easement also reduces your property tax since the land is now worth less (30-60%).

There are also less permanent versions where the owner agrees to manage the land in a particular way or according to a designated person’s advice (e.g., a forester). I think these are often for a fixed term (e.g., 10 or 25 years).

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grass is so terrible. You need to maintain it and it requires so much chemicals especially from Monsanto. It's so much work and money just to maintain grass. I like alternatives like moss or clovers. Even cactus gardens seem better suited.

I am not talking about your lawn, but fields of wild grass.

Oh wow I feel like an idiot.

Thanks for the clarification, I some how thought grass was man made or domesticated/engineer like cows.

Re: Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?

#190
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually way, way less than I'd have thought. 500 trees isn't all that much, really. A nlick of 25x20 trees? What is that, an acre? (Genuinely asking... Giant sequoias will be different from sitka spruce)

An acre is 40,000 square feet. So 25x20 means you get one tree every 9 feet in both directions. That's pretty dense for a large tree.

It's not far off from commercial pine nurseries though.
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