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Kuwait has very little nature, it is a desert country and you cannot find a lush green field. When we drive along the desert, it is so barren. Nothing to see except the power lines, camels, and dust.

I can count with my fingers the trees that survive the natural hazards like Dust storms and intense heat.Date Palm trees are the most common tree that I have seen during the entire time I was living there.I remember that when date trees starts to bear fruits, the owner would wrapped the fruits with a plastic bag to protect them. We had a supply of the ripen dates ( or T´mar), especially during the months of Holy Ramadan. It´s the same culture where friends would give me pears and apples during harvest time in Fall here in Germany.

This leaning tree in the photo above is quite special. I dunno its name but I find it really nice, with its fine foliage and bended branches.I wonder how it had branches like that? Stretched by life or trying to show it´s tenacity and flexibility through harsh weather. I guess probably I am the only one who notices it since I this impression that many people there just don´t care about gardens, nature or environment.

On the other hand, I remembered this leaning tree very well. My daughter was 1 year old and she plays under it. Now she is a master of climbing trees . I really wonder if this tree is still alive and thriving.It is one of the few trees adoring this playground aside from the hedges surrounding the park.

I see trees from Kuwait as a symbol of tenacity and not for aesthetic purposes. What survives there is really because they have managed to survived and passed the natural hurdles, and not because they were cultivated and cared for. Sadly many plants as well face extinction.With almost zero chance of rainfall every year, what can you expect? How can you expect a natural growth of trees with almost zero irrigation and less water?

But then something amazing happened. The great initiative of Kuwait Oasis, started the project ” Great Green Wall of Kuwait.” The enormous tree planting begun using Groasis ´s Waterboxx® plant cocoon and the results are really more than you could imagine.Ghaf trees were planted and you can see the updates and photo gallery showing the gradual growth of the trees planted in the challenging southern part of kuwait deserts.

Someone believe that doing something as simple as “trying” could actually made a big difference. It all started with a great initiative and now serves as an inspiration to the world. Of course you can´t make a desert into full lush green fields and because it´s a desert by nature, but doing something for the environment has long term effects.

In the end, I have seen the great side of it, the sunsets and sunrise beneath these rows of palm trees are quite special. And that´s one thing why I would always remember the “Trees of Kuwait”.

This post is inspired by Cee´s Black & White Trees Challenge and also timely for this month´s theme for the Squares, TreeSquares hosted by the charming Becky.

One question, have you ever planted a tree?

Until then, I can almost smell the weekend. Tschüss.