Entries by Doug Bell

Pet Memorial Tree -Honor a Loved Companion

“It takes a special pet to make us care so deeply and miss them so greatly.” We Love Pets It seems to be undeniable that Americans have a love affair with pets. Over 100 million households in this country have at least one pet. Dogs are the most common household pets, with over 60 million, […]

FAQs Answered – Can I Pick The Type Of Tree To Be Planted?

The Gifted Tree has been planting memorial and celebration trees since 2013. When you have been doing the same thing for a long time, you get a lot of the same questions. In a series of blogs, I will provide some answers to these frequently asked questions as well as provide in-depth reasons for the […]

Arbor Day On Steroids

Have you ever driven into a community and seen a sign commemorating that they are a “Tree City USA” winner designation? I have done that many times, but I never realized what it actually means. I live in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. I just found out that we have been designated such […]

Plant a Tree – Best Place & Type to Plant

While it is extremely difficult to place an exact number of how many trees the earth loses per year, it is in the order of many millions to some say even a billion trees. No one debates the importance of trees and the need to keep planting them. The benefits of planting trees are well […]

How to Write a Sympathy Note

One of the hardest things in life is reaching out to someone who has just lost a loved one. A lot of us want to avoid those in that situation and look the other way. Either we don’t know what to say, how to say it, or are afraid of saying the wrong thing. While […]

Memorial Trees – How It Works

Planting a memorial tree can be a beautiful and eco-friendly way (more on that later) to create a lasting tribute that honors the memory of a cherished individual. Here at The Gifted Tree, we have been planting hundreds of thousands of memorial and celebration trees for over a decade, and currently plant these gift trees […]

Birth Trees

What is a Birth Tree? Trees are special and provide a plethora of benefits both environmentally and economically. But did you also know that your birth tree can determine your personality? According to some, especially the Celtic druids, the date of your birth is tied to the lunar calendar and is related to the formation […]

Urban Forestry – A Quality Of Life Issue

Introduction Imagine being a tree. It is difficult to be a tree in a large metropolitan area. Towering skyscrapers, busy streets with many cars and utility infrastructure, pollution and of course, lots of people, challenges for tree growth abound.  In the hustle and bustle of urban life, where concrete jungles seem to dominate the landscape, […]

The Best Time To Plant a Tree

There is an old proverb, aren’t they all old, which says: The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now. The wisdom is almost entirely true, but not totally true as I will explain in a bit. It is almost always a good time to plant a […]