I remember going tree planting for the first (and, I’ll admit, only) time a couple of years ago.

A lifelong city-dweller, I’d never even seen a sapling until that point!

I remember being amazed at how these thin, spindly little twig-like “things” would, if we did our job properly, grow into mighty trunks that’d suck CO2 from the air and have roots that’d literally hold the land together.

Nature, hey? It’s really bloody cool.

So cool, in fact, that it can be hard to put into words.

Are you struggling with that precise problem when it comes to planting trees?

Well, don’t worry. Having found myself in a similar predicament recently, I decided to look into the best quotes about planting trees I could find!

Looking for a tree planting quote extravaganza?

Here are 120 perfect, pristine, and supremely pleasant tree planting quotes to help you describe this super important regenerative process.

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120 Awesome Quotes about Planting Trees

Before I started this blog post I expected good quotes about planting trees to be hard to find. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover so many out there!

I ended up with 120 great quotes about trees and the importance of planting them, which I’ve split into categories to make everything more digestible.

I hope you like them as much as I did!

My Favourite Plant a tree quotes

1. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese proverb

2. “You know me, I think there ought to be a big old tree right there. And let’s give him a friend. Everybody needs a friend.” – Bob Ross

3. “On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree.” – W.S. Merwin

4. “To plant trees is to give body and life to one’s dreams of a better world.” – Russell Page

5. “The planting of a tree is a modest form of immortality and one of the few truly long-term expressions of hope to mortal human beings.” – Voltaire

6. “Plant trees. They give us two of the most crucial elements for our survival: oxygen and books.” – Whitney Brown

7. “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett

8. “Tree planting is always a utopian enterprise, it seems to me, a wager on a future the planter doesn’t necessarily expect to witness.” – Michael Pollan

9. “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson

10. “If you wish to be happy for a year, plant a garden. If you wish to be happy for a lifetime, plant a tree.” – Jim Morris

11.

“The great French Marshal Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow-growing and would never reach maturity for 100 years. The marshal replied: In that case, there is no time to lose, plant it this afternoon.”

12. “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” – Martin Luther

13. “To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, to live as a people, we must have trees.” – Theodore Roosevelt

14. “That each day I may walk unceasingly on the banks of my water, that my soul may repose on the branches of the trees which I planted, that I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycamore.” – Egyptian tomb inscription

15. “Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel.” – Aldo Leopold

16. “Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking.” – Wangari Maathai

17. “Let soldiers on maneuver plant trees. Give police and criminals a shovel and a thousand seedling.” – John Wright

18. “The symbolism – and the substantive significance – of planting a tree has universal power in every culture and every society on Earth, and it is a way for individual men, women and children to participate in creating solutions for the environmental crisis.” – Al Gore

19. “Man shapes himself through decisions that shape his environment.” – Rene Dubos

20. “Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” – John Muir

Short Quotes for Tree Planting

21. “If a tree dies, plant another in its place.” – Carolus Linnaeus

22. “He that plants trees, loves others besides himself.” – Thomas Fuller

23. “Forests are the lungs of our land.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

24. “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” – William Shakespeare

25. “Trees give peace to the souls of men.” – Nora Waln

26. “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” – Kahlil Gebran

27. “You must grow like a tree, not like a mushroom.” – Janet Erskine Stuart

28.

“He who plants a tree,. plants a hope.”

29. “All our wisdom is stored in the trees.” – Santosh Kalwar

30. “Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience.” – Hal Borland

31. “Plant a memory, plant a tree, do it today for tomorrow.” – Matz

32. “A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.” – Welsh Proverb

33. “If you love a tree you will be more beautiful than before.” – Amit Ray

34. “This oak tree and me, we’re made of the same stuff.” – Carl Sagan

35. “Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” – Rumi

Memorable Quotes about Tree Planting

36. “Reversing deforestation is complicated; planting a tree is simple.” – Martin O’Malley

37. “If I thought I was going to die tomorrow, I should nevertheless plant a tree today.” – Stephen Girard

38. “Why pay money for the horror movies? Just go to a street without trees!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

39. “The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility.” – Wendell Berry

40. “It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.” – George Eliot

41. “Ancient trees are precious. There is little else on Earth that plays host to such a rich community of life within a single living organism.” – Sir David Attenborough

42. “Some people are like trees – they take forever to grow up.” – Leslie Hillman

43.

“When trees burn, they leave the smell of heartbreak in the air.”

44. “Planting a tree is the easiest way to align yourself with the cosmic rhythm.” – Amit Ray

45. “An acorn is just a tree’s way back into the ground. For another try. Another trip through. One life for another.” – Shirley Ann Grau

46. “Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” – Chad Sugg

47. “At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.” – Chico Mendes

48. “Trees fall with spectacular crashes. Planting is silent and growth invisible.” – Richard Powers

49. “A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees.” – Anton Chekhov

50. “I’m planting a tree to remind me to be open and kind-hearted.” – Andrea Koehle Jones

Inspiring Quotes for Planting Trees

51. “I’m planting a tree to teach me to gather strength from my deepest roots.” – Andrea Koehle Jones

52. “Earth stays in joy, When we plant a tree. Beneath the ground, oh, boy! Roots feel free.” – Munia Khan

53. “Trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come.” – Karen Joy Fowler

54. “He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, he provideth a kindness for many generations, and faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.” – Henry Van Dyke

55. “I plant a lot of trees. I am a great believer in planting things for future generations. I loathe the now culture where you just live for today.” – Penelope Keith

56. “Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.” – Chinese proverb

57. “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

58.

“I’ve got to be by trees, otherwise I get claustrophobic.”

59. “When we plant a tree, we are doing what we can to make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwelling-place for those who come after us if not for ourselves.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

60. “Advice from a tree, stand tall and proud, sink your roots into the earth. Be content with your natural beauty, go out on a limb, drink plenty of water, remember your roots and enjoy the view.” – Ilan Shmia

61. “Love is like a tree, it grows of its own accord, it puts down deep roots into our whole being.” – Victor Hugo

62. “The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life and activity; it affords protection to all beings.” – Buddhist Sutra

63. “How could you not be hopeful if you’ve got a tree around?” – Ross Spears

64. “To be able to walk under the branches of a tree that you have planted is really to feel you have arrived with your garden.” – Mirabel Osler

65. “Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.” – Albert Schweitzer

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Insightful Quotes on Plantation of Trees

66. “A man doesn’t plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.” – Alexander Smith

67. “That’s the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree.” – Wangari Maathai

68. “You can’t have the fruits without the roots.” – Stephen Covey

69. “I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty and the miracles of life and growth.” – Louise Dickinson Rich

70. “The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” – Moliere

71. “People who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world that will not sustain people.” – Bryce Nelson

72. “We’re merely one tree with various types, shapes and sizes of leaves that all wave differently in the breeze.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

73.

“We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

74. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

75. “A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.” – D. Elton Trueblood

76. “In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.” – Paulo Coelho

77. “Learn character from trees, values from roots and change from leaves.” – Tasneem Hameed

78. “The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

79. “Trees are the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory. They speak his praises without flattery, and they are blessings to children yet unborn.” – Lord Orrery

80. “No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden.” – Hugh Johnson

General Quotes About Trees

81. “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” – Khalil Gebran

82. “Trees do not preach learning and precepts. They preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.” – Herman Hesse

83. “We can learn a lot from trees: they’re always grounded but never stop reaching heavenward.” – Everett Mamor

84. “Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. Can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish.” – Munia Khan

85. “Of all man’s works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that.” – Henry Ward Beecher

86. “Trees are right at the heart of all the necessary debates: ecological, social, economic, political, moral, religious.” – Colin Tudge

87. “Be like a tree. The tree gives shade even to him who cuts off its boughs.” – Sri Chaitanya

88. “The trees are God’s great alphabet: with them he writes in shining green across the world his thoughts serene.” – Leonora Speyer

89. “Plants are the young of the world, vessels of health and vigor; but they grope ever upward towards consciousness; the trees are imperfect men, and seem to bemoan their imprisonment, rooted in the ground.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

90. “I said to the almond tree, ‘Friend, speak to me of God,’ and the almond tree blossomed.” – Nikos Kazantzakis

91.

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.”

92. “If what I say resonates with you, it is merely because we are both branches on the same tree.” – W.B. Yeats

93. “May my life be like a great hospitable tree, and may weary wanderers find in me a rest.” – John Henry Jowett

94. “A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense.” – Woody Allen

95. “The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It’s a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.” – Homaro Cantu

96. “I have grown taller from walking with the trees…” – Karle Wilson Baker

97. “Because they are primeval, because they outlive us, because they are fixed, trees seem to emanate a sense of permanence. And though rooted in earth, they seem to touch the sky.” – Kim Taplin, Tongues in Trees

98. “Hope is the tree that holds the world” – Pliny, the Elder

99. “It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.” – Henry David Thoreau

100.  “This solitary Tree! A living thing produced too slowly ever to decay; of form and aspect too magnificent to be destroyed.” – William Wordsworth

Palm Tree Quotes about Palm Trees

101. “These palm trees like my old homeboys, hella shady.” – Chamillionaire

102. “It is the nature of the strong heart, that like the palm tree it strives ever upwards when it is most burdened.” – Philip Sidney

103. “The dance of the palm trees, the oceans calling, the first rays of sun and heaven is here.” – Michael Dolan

104. “I suddenly realized I was in California. Warm, palmy air – air you can kiss – and palms.” – Jack Kerouac

105. “May you never be too busy to stop and breathe under a palm tree.” – Unknown

106. “A lot of people prefer to be alone. They would rather be a palm tree on an island. I don’t get it.” – Jose Andres

107. “Some beach, somewhere. There’s a big umbrella casting shade over an empty chair. Palm trees are growin’ and a warm breeze a blowing. I picture myself right there, on some beach, somewhere.” – Blake Shelton

108. “I’m a sucker for turquoise sea, white beaches, and palm trees.” – Bruno Tonioli

109. “The sight of a palm tree silhouetted against the sky made even his life feel like a movie” ― Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

110. “Beneath the sunset skies tall, silver-shafted palm-trees rise.” – William C. Bryant

111.

“The perfect time is twilight, when the setting sun is filtering through the palm trees.”

112. “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.” – Psalm 92:12

113. “I have begun to see so many miracles all around me. I look out of the window in my room: verdant grass, silver-tipped oak leaves, tall palm trees gentle swaying as they reach to the sky, masses and masses of roses.” – Kirk Douglas

114. “I like to laze in the shade of a palm tree with a good book or float in a warm sea at sundown.” – Cherie Lunghi

115. “It’s like a palm tree by the ocean that endures the greatest winds because it knows how to gracefully bend.” – Stephen Kendrick

116. “Lights are glowing in the palm trees.” – Jimmy Buffett

117. “For me, exotic means beaches, palm trees and sand and frolicking in the ocean.” – Priyanka Chopra

118. “A slight breeze cooled the Hawaiian spring air, swaying the branches of palm trees, which cast black silhouettes against the purple and orange colors of the twilight sky.” – Victoria Kahler

119. “I grew up in an era of thinking of travel as escape. The idea that you could conceivably have a new life, go somewhere, fall in love, have little children under the palm trees.” – Paul Theroux

120. “Grow as a palm-tree on God’s Mount Zion; howbeit shaken with winds, yet the root is fast.” – Samuel Rutherford

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Remember These Quote about Planting a Tree Ideas

There’s something very special about planting trees. Aside from the endless good they do for the world, you also know they’re not for you.

It’s a selfless act.

You plant trees now so that people in the future will benefit. So that your kids and grandkids have somewhere shady to sit on hot days. It’s a beautiful thing to do.

With any luck, these quotes about planting trees have inspired you to start planting some of your own!

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