Upcoming Events
Past Events
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The Thousand Year Wood: Past, Present, and Future of People and Oaks
Oaks and people have been intimately connected since at least the Mesolithic Period. Learn about the long history of that relationship including the many things oaks have taught us, in locations from Japan to Europe to California. Logan discusses the present possibilities for planting and maintaining oaks in the landscape with consideration given to the preferences of different species and where they are best suited.
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Painting as a Harvest: Nikolai Astrup's Bountiful Landscapes
In this illustrated conversation, arborist/writer William Bryant Logan and painter/horticulturist Rebecca Allan discuss the intertwined labors of Nikolai Astrup’s life—farming and painting—as a model for re-establishing an intimate connection between people and the land. Reflecting upon how the artist and his wife Engel cultivated fruits, vegetables, flowering plants, and trees as a source of sustenance for their family, they explore how the farm-garden reverberated in Astrup’s singular images of planting, tending, and harvesting the gifts of the earth in early twentieth-century western Norway during the Industrial Revolution. Focusing on a selection of paintings from the exhibition and notes from Astrup’s motif books, Logan and Allan highlight the relevance of Astrup’s life to our time, reminding us of the enduring value of observing the climatic and chromatic qualities of each place and season.
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The Wisdom of Trees
I am excited to be doing a tree walk at the John Burroughs Nature Sanctuary, sight of his cabin Slabsides. We will look mainly at the creativity of trees, how they change their roots and crowns to make a place for themselves and how they live together with other trees of the same and of different species. There are a number of very different habitats here even in a brief walk, so we will be able to look at trees' amazing ability to make unique forms out of simple parts. we will of course identify the trees we are looking at and get to know their personalities. Each species has a different one. I will also ask us to think a little about trees as our elders and teachers. They never move from their place, in the spot that they grow, they are ceaselessly creative.
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Meet the Author - Sprout Lands by William Logan: THE ONCE AND FUTURE WOOD
Arborist William Bryant Logan recovers the lost tradition that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia.
Once, farmers knew how to make a living hedge and fed their flocks on tree-branch hay. Rural people knew how to prune hazel to foster abundance: both of edible nuts and of straight, strong, flexible rods for bridges, walls, and baskets. Townspeople cut their beeches to make charcoal to fuel ironworks. Shipwrights shaped oaks to make hulls. No place could prosper without its inhabitants knowing how to cut their trees so they would sprout again.
Pruning the trees didn’t destroy them. Rather, it created the healthiest, most sustainable and most diverse woodlands that we have ever known. In this journey from the English fens to Spain, Japan, and California, William Bryant Logan rediscovers what was once an everyday ecology. He offers us both practical knowledge about how to live with trees to mutual benefit and hope that humans may again learn what the persistence and generosity of trees can teach.
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The Thousand Year Wood: Past, Present and Future of People and Oaks - Talk at Today's Horticulture Symposium
Celebrating 50 years of the Professional Horticulture Program
This daylong symposium is hosted by the Professional Gardener Alumni Association of Longwood Gardens.
Bill will be speaking at 9am - the symposium is sold out but will be webcast, click on the link for more details!
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BBG Plant-O-Rama 2020
A Trade Show, Jobs Fair & Symposium for Horticulture Professionals
Metro Hort Group and Brooklyn Botanic Garden present the 24th annual Plant-O-Rama. This acclaimed daylong free trade show and jobs fair features green-industry companies and green nonprofit organizations of the New York City metropolitan area and Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut promoting plants, products, and services to horticultural professionals in the tristate region.
This year’s symposium speakers are:
Bill Logan is a practicing New York arborist, a popular teacher and lecturer, and the author of four acclaimed books: Dirt, Oak, Air, and the most recent, Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees.
Margaret Roach, who, after 15 years at Martha Stewart Living, now writes the nationally acclaimed blog, A Way to Garden (dot com) and the companion podcast of the same name. Margaret’s award-winning book A Way to Garden was revised and republished in 2019.
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Morris Arboretum -- The Art of Coppicing and Pollarding
Learn what coppicing and pollarding are, why this arboricultural practice is so important to the preservation of trees, and how it differs from the much discouraged practice of “topping.”
Once people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees, they lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. People cut them back and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were cut near the ground (coppiced), or cut at about six feet tall (pollarded). Surprisingly, this was not an exploitative but a cooperative relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds, and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave people wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes, and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyll of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees.
This course carries 6.5 CEUs for ISA certified arborists. (S=3, P=2.5, M=1).
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Princeton Library -- The Thousand Year Wood
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a symbiotic relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests ways in which we can start this living relationship anew, replacing extraction with grateful exchange.
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The Avid Reader, Davis, CA -- William Bryant Logan Reading from Sprout Lands
I am looking forward to reading from Sprout Lands at The Avid Reader in Davis. The sprouting power of trees means that in principle they might live forever. (There is a clonal shrub in Tasmania that is certainly at least 46,000 years old.) When cut or burned, trees can very often sprout again, and when they do, they create woodlands that are healthier, longer-lived, and more diverse than uncut woods. Discovering this, people around the world made these co-created woodlands the center of their livelihoods and culture. They did this from the Mesolithic until about 200 years ago. We have forgotten almost everything the trees taught us, but now it is time to remember. I
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Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA -- Thousand Years Woods
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a symbiotic relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests ways in which we can start this living relationship anew, replacing extraction with grateful exchange.
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Point Reyes Books -- Isabella Tree and William Bryant Logan
I am so much looking forward to hearing Isabella Tree present her wonderful Wilding, an account of her and her husband's transformation of a failed farm into a living thriving wood pasture. I will then read from Sprout Lands, a book that is likewise about abandoning the way of extraction/imposition in favor of a way of grateful exchange. My book tells how people were able to work with trees to create woodlands that were richer, more diverse, healthier, and longer lived than untended woods. Their practices and attitudes have much to teach us today. Isabella and I will then get to talk about Wilding, wood pasture, and perennial woodland ways of living.
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University of California Berkeley -- Thousand Year Woods
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a symbiotic relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests ways in which we can start this living relationship anew, replacing extraction with grateful exchange.
The event will take place on the campus of UC Berkeley, at 112 Hilgard Hall. All are welcome.
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United States Botanic Garden -- Tree Jazz
Human beings have 78 organs; trees have only 3—root, stem and leaf—but trees live longer and are far more resilient than are human beings. Much like a jazz player, a tree lives by first stating its ancestral pattern, and then by repeating that pattern in every way possible for the rest of its long life. The branches that form on the tree as it grows are literally reiterations of the original form, and in fact, most of them begin life with their own root systems, which are linked to that of their parent tree. In the meantime, whenever damage, insects, diseases, bad weather, pruners or other misfortunes strike the tree, it responds with new repetitions of itself, creative reiterations, like a jazz player’s improvisations on a theme. In this way, out of only three organs and 24 patterns, trees are able to grow an infinity of unique forms. Join Bill as he wanders the USBG outdoor gardens recognizing similar patterns and reiterations in different species.
Meet on the terrace in front of the Conservatory
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United States Botanic Garden -- The Thousand Year Wood
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a symbiotic relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests ways in which we can start this living relationship anew, replacing extraction with grateful exchange.
At The Conservatory Gallery
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Linnaean Society of New York -- The Thousand Year Wood
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a symbiotic relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests ways in which we can start this living relationship anew, replacing extraction with grateful exchange.
at The Linder Theater
American Museum of Natural History
Enter on 77th Street between Columbus Av and Central Park West
New York, NY -
Columbia University Club -- Reading and Discussing Sprout Lands
William Bryant Logan is an arborist on the faculty at NYBG and the award-winning author of four books. His most recent, Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees, is a poetic and practical global journey to rediscover and celebrate the lost traditions of tree pruning that sustained human life and culture for millennia, a time when the responsible, reciprocal relationship between humans and trees created the healthiest, most sustainable, most diverse woodlands we have ever known. Today we are faced with a new need to create long-lived and sustainable woodlands, some in our most urban areas. There is much we can learn from the ancient ways. Reading followed by conversation.
The Penn Club
30 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036 -
Arnold Arboretum -- William Bryant Logan The Thousand Year Wood
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a symbiotic relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests ways in which we can start this living relationship anew, replacing extraction with grateful exchange.
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NYBG: William Bryant Logan with Robin Wall Kimmerer
William Bryant Logan is an arborist on the faculty at NYBG and the award-winning author of four books. His most recent, Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees, is a poetic and practical global journey to rediscover and celebrate the lost traditions of tree pruning that sustained human life and culture for millennia, a time when the responsible, reciprocal relationship between humans and trees created the healthiest, most sustainable, most diverse woodlands we have ever known.
Lecture followed by conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and author of Braiding Sweetgrass.
2900 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10458-5126 -
Toadstool Bookshop: William Bryant Logan - "Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless GIfts of Trees"
In his new book, William Bryant Logan -- arborist and author of Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth and Oak: The Frame of Civilization -- recovers the lost woodland tradition that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia. He offers its absorbing stories as a model for the most important task we face: to restore the intimate relationship between humans and the natural world.
12 Depot Square
Peterborough, NH -
Northshire Bookstore: William Bryant Logan - "Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gifts of Trees"
In his new book, William Bryant Logan -- arborist and author of Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth and Oak: The Frame of Civilization -- recovers the lost woodland tradition that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia. He offers its absorbing stories as a model for the most important task we face: to restore the intimate relationship between humans and the natural world.
4869 Main Street
Manchester Center, VT -
Print: A Bookstore -- William Bryant Logan - "Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gifts of Trees"
In his new book, William Bryant Logan -- arborist and author of Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth and Oak: The Frame of Civilization -- recovers the lost woodland tradition that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia. He offers its absorbing stories as a model for the most important task we face: to restore the intimate relationship between humans and the natural world.
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Left Bank Books: William Bryant Logan - "Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees"
In his new book, arborist and author of Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth William Bryant Logan recovers the lost woodland tradition that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia.
Left Bank Books
109 Church Street
Belfast, ME -
Connecticut Botanical Society: William Bryant Logan -- The Thousand Year Wood
Once, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees. We lived with them, taking from them and giving to them. We cut them back, and they sprouted again. Whole woodlands were coppiced, that is, cut near the ground, or pollarded, that is, cut at about 6 feet tall. Surprisingly, perhaps, this was not an exploitative but a cooperative relationship. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity, and promoted the numbers and kinds of insects, birds and other creatures who lived among the trees and the open understory vegetation. The trees themselves lived longer. In return, the trees gave us wood, fodder, medicines, foods, rope, clothes and ships, as well as beauty, fresh air, and cooling shade. Whole cultures were built around such woods. This talk evokes that ancient world, not as an idyl of the past, but as a model for a future, active relationship to our trees. It also suggests a few ways in which we can start this living relationship anew.
Middlesex County Extension Center
1066 Saybrook Rd.
Haddam, CT -
Oblong Books & Music: William Bryant Logan - "Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees"
In his new book, arborist and author of Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth William Bryant Logan recovers the lost tradition that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia.
Oblong Books & Music
6422 Montgomery Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572 -
Greenlight Bookstore: William Bryant Logan & Marie Howe
Greenlight welcomes Brooklyn-based arborist William Bryant Logan to read and discuss Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift of Trees. Once, no place could prosper without its inhabitants knowing how to cut their trees so they would sprout again. Pruning the trees didn’t destroy them; rather, it created the healthiest, most sustainable and most diverse woodlands that we have ever known. In this journey from the English fens to Spain, Japan, and California, Logan rediscovers what was once an everyday ecology. He offers us both practical knowledge about how to live with trees to mutual benefit and hope that humans may again learn what the persistence and generosity of trees can teach. Logan, a Greenlight neighbor who also manages the trees at our neighbor St. Joseph’s College, presents his book in conversation with former poet laureate of New York, Marie Howe.
Fort Greene store:
686 Fulton streetBrooklyn, NY 11217
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Cathedral of St. John the Divine: William Bryant Logan and William Schuster
Nature as Community and Sanctuary: Bill Logan, arborist and author, and Bill Schuster, biologist and executive director of Black Rock Forest discuss the world of nature as the necessary sanctuary for human beings. In 1979, at the Cathedral, Rene Dubos gave a sermon about lichens, in which he showed that they were an organism that contains within itself a community. He suggested the humans and the world around us were no less a community and no less dependent upon one another. There is no more important task for our time than to restore the intimate connection beween people and the land. Logan reads from his new book, Sprout Lands, about times and places where this active relationship was intact. Schuster talks about the great work at Black Rock Forest to restore and study a forest, bringing people back to it again.
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10025 -
Architecture of Trees Hike
All the trillions of trees in the world grow in only about two dozen forms. Each tree expresses its basic form and then repeats it throughout its long life. The tree can even be reborn in old age by repeating its first shape. Learn about tree architecture with Bill Logan, author of DIRT, OAK, AIR and the about-to-be-released SPROUT LANDS. The event will conclude with an easy hike to see how the Preserve trees are expressing themselves.
Eldridge Research Station
284 Pond Hill Road
Rensselaerville, NY 12147
Join us for a locally-brewed pint afterwards at the Taproom,
26 County Route 353
Rensselaerville, NY 12147
