Trees feed my soul, by Noelle Leigh

Trees feed my soul. Trees speak to me, no not in words but in feelings.

If I’m feeling sad they give me joy, if I’m feeling anxious they calm me.

If I’m feeling tired they give me strength. If I am in need I will do a ‘Tree Meditation’ that is, feeling into the tree deeply and becoming one with it until I lose all sense of me. This may take some time or it may be quick, but these are sacred times and rewarding.

Trees have feelings and I had proof of this a few years ago.

There is a very special little garden at Hampton Court east of the old Yew trees and hidden behind a hedge. The garden is called The Twentieth Century Garden and is full of many beautiful trees and shrubs. I visit it frequently and find it a very peaceful and happy place. However, on one occasion I found that there was an atmosphere of sadness and heaviness and I couldn’t make out why.

After sitting there for a while I decided to go and look at the view over the Long Water with its lovely avenues of old lime trees, but it was a scene of disaster, all the trees had been cut down and there were trunks and branches all over the place, it was horrific! Standing there I realised why there was an atmosphere of sadness in the Twentieth Century Garden, the trees had felt the awful destruction. I was later told by the gardener that the trees were very old in fact apparently some were already dead at the far end, and it was time for new young trees to their place!

It was proof to me that trees do have feelings and it is important for us to honour them and appreciate them. They give us so much.

Noelle Leigh MBE is a long-standing member of ITF and planter of many trees.

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