Planting Mission

Planting Mission
Eva Kunzova

Kiki: Hope this heat ends soon.

Luna: Bad news, Kiki! It’s gonna get even worse.

Kiki: In that case, we need to figure something out.

There is absolutely no shade here!

Old lady: Not really. Look at the other side of the street. I seems like quite a pleasant place to be.

Kiki: Really? Like that tiny little tree can help with anything.

Luna: Of course, it can! I read a lot about it.

Luna: Trees block the sun, but they also breathe. This evaporation can cool the space significantly.

Old Lady: Back in my day, this used to be a forest.
People loved to spend time here, especially in summer when they could escape the heat and rush of city life.
And spend afternoons playing and picnicking in the crisp air of the forest.

Old lady: But they cut down all the remains when the new highway was built.
Leaving only solitary trees here and there.

Kiki: Wow, what a pity, I would love to be in a forest now!

Luna: If it would be so easy, someone would have already done it!
FX: Screech

Kiki: Well, maybe nobody knows about it.
Maybe nobody got the idea! Maybe you should do it!

Kiki: We should do it!

Kiki: Luna?!

Luna: Come on, Kiki! Hurry up!

Kiki: But I just got an idea!

FX: GRAB
Kiki: Wait!

Luna: What’s come over you?

Kiki: I just figured out how we can solve this heat problem for years to come.

Luna: Couldn’t you tell me on the bus?

Kiki: I’m sorry. But you’re gonna love this. You always say that complaining doesn’t help, so…

Luna: no, I actually say …

Kiki: … we are going to solve this heat problem by bringing back trees and providing this cool tree shade to everyone on this bus stop.

Kiki: Because we are going to plant our own tree right here.

Luna: Kiki, that sounds nice. But I read a couple of articles about city designs…
…and I don’t think you can just walk around planting trees with no plan.

Kiki: But I actually have a plan.

Kiki: Come on, I know where to start…

Luna: but…

Sign:
Garden Center

Luna: So, what’s your plan?

Kiki: Step 1 buy a tree,
step 2 plant a tree,
step 3 enjoy our new cool bus stop

Luna: …sigh…
Only you can call that a plan.
Do you at least know what kind of tree we should get?

Kiki: Stop worrying so much. It’s just a tree, you put it in the ground and it grows.
I’m sure any kind will do.

Kiki: Look! This willow tree is gonna be perfect.
It will change our bus stop into one from folk tales.

Cap: Back on the bus stop

Kiki: I know it doesn’t look like much, yet,
but once it grows a bit…

Kiki: …people will really enjoy it.

Luna: I wish. But I see a couple of problems with this plan.

Cap: Few weeks later…

Kiki: Oh, no! What’s happened?!!

Kiki: Someone has poisoned our tree!!!

Luna: I don’t think so.
I’ve been reading about trees in cities…

Luna: Turns out, cities are quite a specific type of habitat.
It gets really hot in summer and freezes in winter..

Luna: And rainwater just washes over concrete…

… if there aren’t any other trees to hold it in the ground, it’s gonna mean drought for most of the plants.

Luna: Trees can thrive and grow here.

We just need to pick species that can tolerate these extreme conditions.

Something more Mediterranean-like.

Kiki: Couldn’t have mentioned it earlier, could you?

Luna: I didn’t know it then!
Plus you didn’t even give me a chance to look it up.

Kiki: I’m sorry. I got too excited and couldn’t wait. You always spend so much time looking up all the details.
Do you know which tree we should buy this time?

Luna: Of course! I have found a list of species planned for our city.

Luna: I have also found out that city…
Kiki: Great! You tell me on a way!
Luna:Where we going?

Cap: One trip to Garden Center later…

Kiki: wow, look at that.
You know, when we work together, we can get stuff done.
Luna: You know, I was thinking…

Neighbor: Finally, someone taking the matter into their own hands.

Neighbor: I’ve been always saying, this street needs some plants.

Neighbor: It should have been a green street if you ask me.

Neighbor: Milo would love it!

Kiki: See, people already like it!
Luna: Well, that was nice to hear. But I still feel like you are getting me into trouble.

Policeman: Hey! You two!

Policeman: What do you think you are doing?

Kiki, Luna : ehm.. planting a tree?

Policeman: I see that. But this is a public space, do you have a permit?

Policeman: Well, in that case, I have to ask you to remove it.

Kiki: But we are planting it for the public! So, everyone can hide in its shade. Did you know that trees in cities can….

Policeman: Yeah, yeah.. Look I get it. I, in fact, live nearby and would love to have some greenery here. But the city district can be quite sensitive on public space. They might remove it anyway.

Kiki: But… but how it is gonna change then?

Policeman: Well… I guess I can give you a week before I report it.
If you have a permit by then, it stays.

Kiki: Will you speak with them?

Luna: Me? I’m going with you, but isn’t this your plan?

Kiki: But you know so much about cities and governing. Please, you are so much better at speaking with officials.

Luna: Oh, come on. You can do this. Just be calm and reasonable and you’ll be fine.

Kiki: Thanks.

Bureaucrat: So, you want to just randomly plant a tree on public ground?

Kiki: Well, if it’s public ground, surely one tree will not be a problem.

Bureaucrat: Well, we have plans on how we would like the city to function. And every planting needs to follow strict guidelines.

Bureaucrat: How far trees can be from roads, buildings, wiring.

Bureaucrat: Which species we can plant, we really would like to avoid any more invasive species.

Bureaucrat: And so on. As you can see, it can be quite complex and we would really appreciate if you would stop your random planting mission.

Kiki: help

Luna: fine

Bureaucrat: As I was saying, the city…

Luna: But the city does not use the bus stop, people do!

Luna : And many of them are really excited about the idea. Having a sort of natural shade on a bus stop would help during the heat. And having a little bit of nature on an otherwise concrete street would make it more enjoyable to live there. There is nothing the city can lose.

Buraeucrat: Well…

Kiki: Oh, c’mon! If it’s not gonna harm the city and people really want it, why not try it and see what it brings?

Burraeucrat: Fine.

Buraeucrat: One tree.

Cap: Weeks later…

Kiki: What?!!

Kiki, Luna: Hey! Hey!
FX:Vrrrrrrrrr

Kiki and Luna: Hey!
Hey! Stop!

Guy: Oh, what’s going on?

Kiki: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY DID YOU CUT OUR TREE!!!

Guy: What tree? oh…

Guy: How was I supposed to know it’s there, I’ve never seen any trees here.
It must have been so small that I didn’t notice.

Kiki: YOU..
Luna: Kiki!

Kiki: DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK WE PUT INTO THIS….
Luna: Kiki, don’t!

Luna: Let him be. This won’t help.

Kiki: But we have done so much. I thought we did everything right this time. And it still got run over…

Kiki: Go ahead. Tell me what I’ve done wrong this time.
Luna: I.. don’t know.

Luna: I don’t think you have done anything wrong.

Little boy: DAD!!!

Little boy: Dad? Why did they cut the tree?

Old Lady: Unbelievable! Everytime someone tries to bring a bit of life here some blockhead has to destroy it.

Neighbor: Who’s done this? We finally could have some shade here! Only if I would have known.

Kiki: Luna! Are you sure we’ve done everything right this time?
Luna: yeah..

Kiki: Because I think I know what we forgot.
We found the right species.
We got the permit but…

Kiki: …we forgot to include them!

Kiki: They loved the idea from the beginning and kept cheering us up. If we would tell them, they could have helped us!

Luna: Wow, that sounds like a plan, and if you are making plans…

Kiki: Where you going?
Luna: To plant a tree!

Cap: After another trip to the Garden center and a couple of years of care and involvement of people from the local community, a once single tree grew into a whole green infrastructure bringing much more benefits to the city than just simple shade on the bus stop.

Cap: Trees are able to improve air quality, not only by producing oxygen, but absorbing gaseous and particular pollutions that cities suffer from.

Cap: Only a few animal species can comfortably live in the cities, most of the local wildlife usually avoid them.

Cap: But well-connected green infrastructure can provide shelter and food even for more sensitive species and increase local biodiversity.

Cap: Might be hard to escape constant city noise, however, dense tree and shrub growth can serve as effective noise barriers to not only deflect but also absorb the sounds of streets.

Cap: Trees are not just what we see, their root systems grow deep into the soil and help absorb and store rainwater.

Neighbor: I’ve been saying this the whole time. The whole street should have been green street

Kiki: Well, that expanded quite quickly. What do you think?

Luna: I guess, we all just needed someone to plant the first tree.

Kiki: Luckily, I had someone who knew how to actually do it.

what is ‘nbs’ about this comic?

Planting trees along streets, or creating “green streets,” is a game-changer for neighborhoods. Trees provide much-needed shade, making sidewalks and homes cooler, especially in the summer. They also add natural beauty, transforming boring streets into lovely, green avenues. Besides looking great, these trees help clean the air, reduce noise, and even boost local property values. It’s a simple way to make urban areas more comfortable, attractive, and eco-friendly!