Month: June 2026

W. Jim Cortese to Speak at Garden Club Event on June 18

W. Jim Cortese speaking at a Rotary Club event before a garden club talk

W. Jim Cortese will give a garden club talk on June 18, sharing reflections from his decades of work in arboriculture, urban forestry, tree preservation, and storytelling. Cortese, a longtime arborist and author of John Muir Climbs a Tree and Other Tree Tales, has spent much of his career helping people better understand the value …

Why Everyone Has a Tree Story

W. Jim Cortese standing among tall trees for his Tree Stories blog

I have learned something after spending most of my life around trees. That is why I am starting Tree Stories, a place to reflect on trees, memory, nature, and the connections people carry with them. A tree story is a memory, lesson, or experience that shows how trees become part of human life. If you …