Latest Trees News

An ancient African tree is providing a new 'superfood' but local harvesters are barely surviving

Sep. 18, 2024 10:04 AM EDT

Since childhood, Loveness Bhitoni has collected fruit from the gigantic baobab trees surrounding her homestead in Zimbabwe to add variety to the family’s staple corn and millet diet. The 50-year-old Bhitoni never saw them as a source of cash, until now. Climate change-induced...

School districts race to invest in cooling solutions as classrooms and playgrounds heat up

Sep. 09, 2024 09:28 AM EDT

Ylenia Aguilar raised her two sons in Arizona — first in Tucson and later Phoenix, so they’re no strangers to scorching heat. Just recently, Phoenix hit its 100th straight day at or above 100 F (37.8 C), shattering the record set in 1993. She remembers scary moments “seeing...

El Comandante Hernández leads ‘Tree Army’ in defense of Mexico City’s trees

Sep. 06, 2024 18:09 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Scooting on his electric skateboard through a southern Mexico City neighborhood, Arturo Hernández spots a likely target for his next action and uploads a photo to social media calling his followers to help. A couple of days later, he and several of them are swinging...

Got pruning remorse? How to fill in those bare spaces

Aug. 29, 2024 13:35 PM EDT

After 20 years of growth, some of the ever-widening, 40-foot-tall Leyland cypress trees running along my backyard property line are blocking the walkway. A simple trim is not an option because only the outermost foot or two of each branch is needled, and more than that would have to...

Stumpy, the gnarled, old cherry tree, is gone. But its clones — little Stumplings — live on

Aug. 15, 2024 19:18 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stumpy lives on! The stunted and gnarled cherry tree that became an unlikely social media celebrity was cut down after the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival, along with more than 100 other trees, to make way for a massive repair project on the crumbling...

How Lahaina's more than 150-year-old banyan tree is coming back to life after devastating fire

Aug. 07, 2024 06:45 AM EDT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — When a deadly wildfire tore through Lahaina on Maui last August, the wall of flames scorched the 151-year-old banyan tree along the historic town's Front Street. But the sprawling tree survived the blaze, and thanks to the efforts of arborists and dedicated volunteers,...

Historic UNESCO world heritage park in Germany grapples with dying trees as climate change kicks in

Jul. 29, 2024 06:14 AM EDT

POTSDAM, Germany (AP) — The avenues, monuments and gardens in the park surrounding Sanssouci Palace, a sprawling green oasis in the heart of the German city of Potsdam and a UNESCO world heritage site, look as magnificent as ever. But a closer look shows that all is not well with...

Wisconsin DNR says emerald ash borer find in Burnett County means beetle has spread across state

Jul. 26, 2024 14:41 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The tree-killing emerald ash borer has now spread to every county in Wisconsin, state officials said Friday. The state Department of Natural Resources said agency staff responded to a report of a possible emerald ash borer infestation in two trees at a private...

Pongamia trees grow where citrus once flourished, offering renewable energy and plant-based protein

Jul. 08, 2024 13:58 PM EDT

An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy. As large parts of the Sunshine State’s once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past two decades because of...

Connecticut governor to replant more than 180 trees, thousands of bushes cut down behind his house

Jun. 27, 2024 19:12 PM EDT

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday was officially ordered by his local inland wetlands agency to replant more than 180 trees and thousands of bushes that were chopped down in November on property behind the Democrat's Greenwich home. While one of Lamont's neighbors and a...