How often do you think about the magic of trees? 🌳Chadds Ford tree whisperer and long-time resident, Rob King, thinks about trees a lot.

How do they turn carbon dioxide into fresh air for us to breathe?
Did you know trees talk to and care for each other, even trees of different species?
How do they carry water up over a hundred feet to their top leaves when our hoses only spray 25 feet or so?
What allows heavy 90-pound branches to jet straight out from skinny trunks and master feats of strength we can’t replicate with even the strongest engineered materials?

Just the slightest bit of curiosity about trees sparks some incredible questions.

Recently, I asked Rob about his upcoming talk about trees at the Chadds Ford Historical Society, and he posed some of these questions to me. I’ve never thought about most of them, but once considered, the trees accomplish some seriously impressive feats.

Chadds Ford Tree whisperer, Rob King, with a large fallen tree — Photo from Rob

Rob is passionate about trees in a way that’s inspiring, joyful, and incredibly useful. The world tells us to pursue our passions as professions, so work will never feel like a job. As far as I can tell, Rob has lived by this mantra for decades, and Chadds Ford residents are among the biggest beneficiaries.

You might already know that Rob is the owner of Chadds Ford Tree Service. He’s helped many neighbors, including us, manage the wealth of trees we’re fortunate to have in our yards and our community. After a massive storm in 2023 that left us with countless trees to clean up, Rob patiently waited for us to be ready and managed the job flawlessly.

Trees waiting to be cleared up by Rob’s team at Chadds Ford Tree Service

Rob serves as a volunteer on the township Open Space Committee. In this role, he’s worked tirelessly on the commitees many projects, but especially on efforts to open Sunset Hill Preserve to the public. The former Girl Scout camp has been closed for decades. Under his guidance and expertise (and that of the rest of the Open Space Committee), the township has been restoring old walking paths, clearing invasives, and designing signage to safely open the preserve to the community, hopefully in the near future.

Did you know he’s also our Township Roadmaster? Rob drives around town to ensure our streets and roadway signage are safe and well-maintained. Find a pothole? Notice a missing sign? See a fallen tree across the road? Let Rob know, and he’ll coordinate a fix with the township management.

Next week, on April 2, Rob is sharing his passion and expertise with the public at a Speaker Series event at 7 pm at the Chadds Ford Historical Society. He’ll discuss some of the amazing biological qualities of trees, as well as where we can find unique trees and impressive stands of trees in our community.

He has a few favorite Chadds Ford trees to highlight, like the old Cherry tree near Brandywine Battlefield, the famous Dilworthtown Oak, and the sprawling Sycamore near the Gideon Gilpin House (some of which have fallen in recent years).

Did you know that trees covered more than 90% of Pennsylvania’s land when European settlers first came to Penn’s Woods? As a result of logging, we lost about 80% of those trees. But with time, conservation efforts increased, and the forests have slowly returned, some through natural succession and others from conscious care.

Chadds Ford forest areas are largely comprised of that new growth after logging. Today, deer and invasives prevent most natural regeneration. Anyone in Chadds Ford whose tried to plant just about anything knows this from experience. 🦌 But we can foster healthy reforestation with proper techniques (and plenty of deer fences). Rob’s your guy to ask for the info on how to make it happen.

View of the Brandywine Battlefield from the Chadds Ford Tree Service chip and log storage yard (photo from Rob)

Although he’ll only have 90 minutes to fawn over the trees of Chadds Ford, Rob could wax poetic about them for much longer than that. He has a lifetime of love for trees and decades of experience working with them to fuel the discussion. Despite the challenges we face in caring for our forests, Rob has plenty to delight us and offer hope for a leaf-filled future.

Rob is a gem in the community. He’s genuine, kind, and willing to help when a helping hand is needed. If you’re interested, be sure to mark your calendar to stop by the Historical Society on April 2 to hear what he has to say and learn so much about the beloved trees that care for us and shape our bucolic community in such a special way.