Now imagine a lot of trees living together as neighbors then expand the concept to shrubs and grasses. One shrub here, a lot of shrubs there; here a clump of grass, there an expanse of grasses.

When I lived in New York City, the view from my kitchen window was framed by a tremendous scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) who towered over the brick homes below — a 150-year-old remnant from ...