1) The city of Melbourne, Australia has implemented a program where residents can email individual trees in the city that have been mapped and assigned identification numbers. 2) Over 3,000 emails have been sent to trees in the past two years, with residents sharing messages of appreciation for the trees or asking about their well-being. The trees provide polite responses through the city council. 3) Critics question if trees responding to emails suggesting human-like interactions is appropriate, but supporters argue it contributes to Melbourne's reputation as the world's most livable city by encouraging community connections.

1. I talk to the trees...
Russell Grenning
In 1951, the classicLernerandLowe musical “PaintYour Wagon”openedtoecstaticreviewson its
Broadway debutandthe movie of the same name got rave noticeswhenitwasreleasedin1969.
One of the manymemorable songswas “Italk to the trees,But they don’tlisten to me...” and we all
sighedrememberinglostorunrequitedlovesfromourpast.
But now,the faircity of Melbourne whichmodestlydescribesitselfas “The world’smostliveable
city” has come up witha trulyinnovative,if somewhatbizarre,operationwhichallowsitsworthy
citizenrytoemail atree and, whatismore,the tree will reply.Gosh,isitanywonderthatit isthe
world’smostliveable city?
Already,thiscuttingedge communityservice isattractinginternational attention.Iunderstand
several citiesare planningsimilarschemes –forexample,Iunderstandthe Russianhamletof
Oymyaken,consideredtobe the coldestplace of humanhabitationonthe planetwhere
temperaturescandropto -67C isponderingthe ideaof allowinglocalstoemail asnow driftandget
a chatty reply.
However,backto sophisticatedtrendyMelbourne.
The sharingand caring Council hasmappedeverytree theyown –and theyhave an estimated
70,000 – and eachhas beengivenaunique IDnumber. AccordingtoCouncillorArronWoodwho
mastermindsthe program,itarose froman attemptby the Council toalertfolkstothe parlousstate
of the city’streeswhichwere strugglingbecause of the prolonged drought.
So far,so good I hearyousay.
“So whatwedid is we actually mapped allthe trees in the city. In doing so we had to assign each of
theman individualtree ID and it wasa logical step to allow ourresidentsto actually interact on a
digital platform.And they could email whethera tree wasdropping limbsor if it was in a severestate
of decline and wecould easily locatethat tree and comeout and intervene.” Cr Wood said.
He furtherexplainsthat “something extraordinary happened” andlocals startedsendingpersonal
messagestotrees.More than 3,000 emailshave beensenttoindividual treesinthe pasttwoyears
and typical of the lovelyperson-treeconversationwasanemail fromsomebodywhowrote toa
Chinese Elm, “Iamstuckinside and I am so jealousof you soaking up thesun.You seemto be having
a ball outthere” and the tree replied, “Sorry you arestuckinside.I amreally enjoying stretching my
somataand giving my chloroplastsa good workout.Ispenttheweekend well hydrated and
preparing forthe summerahead.”
I’mnot terriblysure if anerectand nakedtree shouldbe allowedtostretchitssomataand give its
chloroplastsagoodworkoutin mixedcompanyorinfrontof kiddiesbut,heck,theyare a
sophisticatedlotinMelbourne. If youdon’tbelieveme,askthem.

2. I am remindedthatMelbourne haslargestmental healthfacilityinAustraliaanda large networkof
mental healthprofessionalsinconvenientcity-wide locations.I’msure theyare runoff theirfeetbut
all of that sharingandcaring certainlycontributestoMelbourne beingthe world’smostliveable city,
doesn’tit?
Anothertypical message toatree: “As I wasleaving St Mary’sCollegetoday I wasstruck,notby a
branch,butby yourradiantbeauty.You mustgetthese messagesall thetime. You’re such an
attractivetree.”
My researchinformsme thattrees,asa speciesgenerally,have nomoral code andscatter their
favourslike,well–like leavesinahighwind.Theydon’tandwon’tplayfavourites withtheir
correspondents.
Back to Cr Wood. “Peopleliterally are talking to thesetrees as if they arepeople,telling themhow
much they love them,thanking themforprotecting themfromthe sun,apologising when theirdog
pees on themin themorning,”he said.
There have beenemailsfromformerresidentsinGermanyandthe USA tellingtreeshow muchthey
missthemand the EnglishElmshave beenaskedfortheirviewsonthe Ashesseries. “DearGreen
Leaf Elm” was askedwhatit thoughtaboutlivinginStMary’s by a student whoalsoannouncedthat
examswere comingup.
The Victorianeducationsystemwasonfull displaywhenthe student,aperceptivelittle soul if ever
there wasone,wrote, “I haveexamscoming up and I should bebusy studying.You do nothave
examsbecauseyou area tree. I don’tthinkthere is much to talk aboutaswe don’thavea lot in
common,you being a tree and such.But I’mglad we’rein this together.”
Perhapsif “PaintYour Wagon”iseverrevivedforaMelbourne audience,theycouldmake asubtle
change to the lyricabout talkingtothe trees: “I email the trees, That’swhy they putme away...”
That small acknowledgementof ageneral eccentricityshouldmake Melbourne evenmore liveable.