My family was on vacation when a thunderstorm with 80 mph winds swept through our neighborhood and lit up with distressed neighbors reporting the extensive blowdown. They described huge matter trees torn up by the roots that crashing through fences. The power and water went out. We ventured the road on foot, they recounted, we twisted and blown branches and tree tops snapped 30 feet up landing on roads and driveways.

We quickly wrapped up our vacation and headed home. Thankfully, the first clean-up crews reached our neighborhood before we did. Recently one log blocked the road to let a car pass, and broken branches were still dangling precariously over roads and power lines.

We feared for the two rows of mature maple, cherry and locust trees that decline our property, as well as the large maple and river birches in the front yard. We found piles of broken trees in areas that looked like they had been blanketed by snow. We found sky-touching places where shade should have been. We found our neighbors lost in the blowdown. At the same time, we asked ourselves about the fallen trees and leaves in our yard? What would "Nature Would Nature Do"? We learned that downed trees and leaves decay in the forest, providing shelter for creatures like foxes and raccoons.

As we kept thinking about the forest, we began to understand that we were inadvertently carrying out, cut up, hauled away or burned the branches and tree logs of nature's intended nutrients. To aid insult to injury, we mowed down or weed whacked seedlings before they had a chance to grow into the next generation of trees. There are fallen trees and leaves decay where they fell. They will provide homes and multi-room lodging as well as firefly larva. The logs might even become dens for foxes or raccoons. As the trees and leaves decayed, they would feed and improve the health of the remaining trees and increase the area containing nutrient-rich soil where seedlings could sprout.

Based on our new insights, we considered leaving the first and branches where the storm deposited them. We decided we were ready for extensive landscape design that would allow the downed trees and branches to remain where they fell. Instead, we decided to mimic nature as closely as we could within the existing landscape developed as "What Would Nature Do?" and soon came up with a plan.

We needed our existing trees to survive future storms while we implemented our new plan, so we found studies of trees that survived hurricanes. The studies confirmed what we observed. When some trees survived, others were at risk. The studies showed that native trees in groups of five or more, and of varied species, survived high winds and heavy rains best. The studies found it was also best to have a mix of older and younger trees. Giving trees enough rooting area, and protection from the wind and sun was also highly beneficial. We hired an arborist who told us nature did a better job than humans of planting trees. He cited a study that found 85% of the trees felled by a Mid-Atlantic storm were planted by humans, while 83% of the living trees were from seeds let on the ground as part of our plan.

We also learned our property was getting thirstier with each bad storm. Mature trees are masters of managing water. Their leaves act as umbrellas and their roots act as sponges. The leaves of a mature oak or maple catch up to 4,000 gallons per year. The needles and branches of a mature evergreen catch up to 4,000 gallons per year. The water they capture then drips to the ground slowly, keeping the porous soil moist and absorbent. The roots of those same mature trees soak up over 40,000 gallons and substantially reduces run-off during a rainstorm. By our math, the trees we lost in the blowdown absorbed enough water to fill a whopping 27 swimming pools every year. Keep water on the property became a priority in our plan.

Learning together, it is obvious that the first step in our "What Would Nature Do" plan is to save existing trees. Saving mature trees helps us catch and retain more rainfall and create more shade faster than we could by cutting down damaged ones.