Life Lessons Through Tree Transplanting

My favorite activity at OCF (Our City Forest) is transplanting trees because it makes me truly get to know one. When I lift a sapling out of its pot, I am not only moving a plant, I am meeting an individual. When I look at the thin white roots of the sapling, I see individuals with courage, always digging deeper into the dark earth in search of water and nutrients. When I look at the anchor roots I see a parent under pressure, supporting the trunk of the tree. That quiet inspection feels like a conversation: the tree shows me where it has been and I decide how to help with where it is going. 

Transplanting begins with attention. I gently shake the bucket and loosen the dirt touching the edges of the bucket. This allows me to shrug the sapling, along with its roots and dirt out of the tight bucket it has outgrown. Then I go through a process of gently removing dirt from the roots at the bottom and redirecting them so they are able to extend and grow further downward. They are then placed into a bigger larger home. After getting refilled with dirt and watered, the roots with much courage assess its surroundings and once again venture to through their new home.

This simple task has reshaped the consciousness of my surroundings.  When I slow down with a sapling, I begin to notice that every living thing carries its own challenges and its own story. Once you start seeing those struggles beneath the surface, the world expands, suddenly it is not just “a tree” or “a street,” but a chorus of lives interconnected to each other. The scope of it is mind-stretching: countless organisms, each making a thousand small decisions to survive another day. It gives me assurance and courage to push on, knowing that there are countless things around me facing hardships this exact second. 

This revelation does more than just amaze me, it asks me for something. The trees offer us shade, clean air, and fruit. The least I can do to give back is to give the sapling attention, a form of respect and gratitude. Transplanting becomes more than a technique, it is a promise to meet each tree as an individual: to set the root flare at the right height, to water slowly, to check in occasionally. In tending to a small life form I am also able to connect and leave a positive effect on the lives of millions of other individuals in the future, whether it's the ants hiding under the leaves during a storm or a bird using the branches as a nest for its hatchlings.

By John Oh