Human stories in the HBO series Trees and Other Weaves

Proud to present a remarkable documentary about people with unusual connections to trees, premiering on HBO and the Max streaming platform beginning Tuesday, December 12. I know this thanks to the clever marketers at HBO who reached out to members of the garden media (including me and, I'm sure, others) offering a preview and interview with the filmmaker - a real treat for me! "

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"Trees and Other Intertwines " is described as "a lyrical and enveloping exploration of humanity's deep connection to trees, the natural world and each other." There are no bad or good characters here; these people are multifaceted, and the director's gaze is not accusatory. There are no threats or''warnings.

The focus of the movie is on people, including:

• George Weyerhaeuser at age 9;
• the parents of writer Carolyn Finney;
• Dirk Brinkman;
• and son of bonsai master Ryan Neal;

My preliminary research prior to the interview revealed a list of Taylor's numerous awards (Peabody, Emmy, and others) and nominations (Oscar), as well as her 10 previous feature-length documentaries for HBO, including ones I've seen and admired (Musical Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements, Beware the Slenderman, and Leave No Trace, about pioneer scouts). Diving deeper, I discovered her M.A. in journalism from Columbia Journalism School and her initial''s work in Kathmandu, Nepal, as a Himalayan mountain guide, and then her years as a producer on CBS's Sunday Morning program.

This all made me want to find out a lot more from her, but I was willing to take advantage of the 20 minutes allotted to me - and thanked the HBO press team for knowing that garden blog readers are people who have a special relationship with trees, and they would certainly appreciate such a beautiful and thoughtful movie.

These are some highlights of our conversation:

Taylor is an avid gardener herself and loves being outdoors and believes that GardenRant readers appreciate the changing times and seasons. The idea for this movie came from a team of HBO documentarians who were''inspired by Richard Powers' novel about man's connection to the natural world. While 'Beneath the Story' follows characters connected to trees, Irena's response was as follows: "We can find real people. Real people are more interesting than fictional characters." Indeed!

So began a year and a half of searching for interesting people and the trees they love, including some that couldn't be told about because of travel restrictions due to the pandemic. One such person is a Brazilian scientist fighting tree poaching with artificial intelligence-connected microphones that detect the sound of saws and bulldozers.

Other stories in Italy, France and the Mediterranean had to be postponed. (Maybe we'll see them in the sequel'''Trees 2.'') Ryan Neal, a bonsai master she calls "the poet-philosopher of the movie," lives just 30 minutes away. I'm jealous! I also learned that he has a podcast, which I immediately subscribed to. Taylor thinks he would be up for an interview for GardenRant, so stay tuned.

Taylor was struck by the American history she learned while researching about Weyerhauser, especially its founder's hatred of trees.

With regard to English ivy, the scourge we so often see around us, she says, "I decided to remove ivy from trees out of compassion for them. I couldn't save my dad, but I could save the trees." She noticed that a neighbor, also a gardener, was doing the same thing in a forest on public property. "Forest Gnomes -''Tis her term for people working in public places to save trees the city doesn't take care of.

By the way, winter is the perfect time to remove those harmful webs from trees near you - here's how and why. You too can become a forest gnome!"

Susan co-founded GardenRant and wrote for national gardening magazines and independent garden centers before retiring in 2014. Now she has time for projects like these:

• Creating and editing the nonprofit website Greenbelt Online for her adopted town of Greenbelt, Maryland (founded in 1937 as the "Utopia of the New Deal"); and managing the YouTube channel of Greenbelt, Maryland. She is also a board member of Greenbelt' television station'Access.
• A YouTube channel where she talks about her hula-hoop adventures and creates instructional videos for beginners.
• Founded two informational websites: Good Gardening Videos, which recommends science-based gardening videos on YouTube; and DC Gardens, a nonprofit campaign to promote community gardens in the Washington, D.C. area and gardening by local residents.

Here Susan criticizes anything that misleads or hinders gardeners - from old-fashioned scammers to misguided benefactors to local laws that require compliance - and reports news from the gardening world.

You can contact Susan by email or by leaving a comment on one of her articles.