Touching the earth feels good, lifts spirits
- Herb Broda: Nature Notebook
- April 17, 2020
- 1512
Feeling a little down? Need a mood booster? Relief may be as near as your garden or flower bed. Some researchers feel there are anti-depressant microbes in the soil that can make us feel happy.
Of course that’s old news for gardeners and farmers; they have known for years getting your hands in the soil is a satisfying experience. It feels good to touch the earth, but it also seems to lift the spirits.
There is a difference between soil and dirt. Dirt refers to sandy or rocky material that has no organic materials. It has no microbes or other nutrients beneficial for plants; soil, however, is rich in organic materials.
Scientists feel there really is a scientific reason why working the earth makes us feel better. Garden soil is loaded with microbes like Mycobacterium vaccae, which seems to affect the brain much like anti-depressant drugs but without the side effects. The microbe works its magic by stimulating serotonin production.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter often associated with feelings of well-being and happiness. Although it’s often referred to as the happy chemical, it actually has many other complex and varied functions in the body.
As the sun gently warms the earth, think about going outside and turning over some soil in your hands.
Savor the season
Hallelujah, it’s spring wildflower season! Botanists use the fancy term “spring ephemerals” for plants that emerge, bloom and fade between snowmelt and the time when leaves are fully out on the trees.
When trees are bare, sunlight easily warms the forest floor, and a variety of early plants emerge and thrive in the light. But as the leaf canopy forms, less and less light reaches the ground, and these early bloomers fade away.
In Ohio there are dozens of spring ephemerals. Many have colorful names like squirrel corn, Dutchman’s breeches, spring beauty and blood root. There is one, though, that is hands down my all-time favorite: the trillium.
I love the large white trillium with the regal-sounding, scientific name of Trillium grandiflorum. During late April and early May, they can grow to 15 inches, making them easy to spot. Trilliums can live a long time — 25 years is common. But it can take three years or more for the first flowers to bloom.
Spectacular trillium carpets can be found at Wooster Memorial Park and also at Johnson Woods near Orrville. At Johnson Woods there is a boardwalk trail through the entire preserve, making it easy to see the trilliums. Wooster Memorial Park has a Trillium Trail (moderate difficulty) that goes by a hillside with masses of trilliums.
Thank you Ollie
The last Friday in April is Arbor Day in Ohio. Although it’s a day for appreciating and planting trees, locally it reflects the work of a person who was passionate about trees and their value to a community.
Dr. Oliver “Ollie” Diller was emeritus professor of forestry and former curator of the Secrest Arboretum from 1950-70. Diller, who passed away in 1984, enthusiastically promoted tree planting throughout Wooster.
Probably one his greatest legacies is the tree-planting program that he began with the Wooster City Schools in the 1950s. Initially every first-grader received a small dogwood tree on Arbor Day. The program later included fifth-graders and over the years also distributed sweet bay magnolias, as well as buckeye and dogwood trees.
Transplanting and packaging hundreds of seedlings was a huge task supported by the Noon Lion’s Club and the Junior Women’s Service Club. Jim Silver of the Wooster Noon Lion’s Club estimated in a 2017 article that over 38,000 dogwood and magnolia seedlings had been provided since the mid-1950s.
We don’t know how many of those elementary school seedlings grew to maturity, but if you drive around town at this time of year, flowering trees are everywhere. Largely because of Diller’s efforts, Wooster was designated “Dogwood City,” and for over 40 years it has been designated as a “Tree City U.S.A.”
Although the Arbor Day tree giveaways were popular, Diller also is known for his interest in hollies. His research plot at the arboretum became known as “Ollie’s Hollies,” and a current theme garden in the arboretum still carries the name.
In honor of Arbor Day and to give a nod to Oliver Diller, think about planting a tree in your yard. Even a little seedling carries hope and confidence in the future.
Email Herb Broda at 4nature.notebook@gmail.com.