The Backstory

Many years ago, I was hiking near the end of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia when I came upon a tree with a large growth at it's base. I learned that this was called a burl and the more I learned about burls, the more I realized that they are recovery stories, told in wood, of a tree's survival after facing injury or disease. Burls are ugly on the surface and magical on the inside.

 

 

I have spent nearly 25 years helping people recover from mental health challenges and the parallels were obvious from the start. When I held my first burl creation in my hand, it just felt different, like I was holding actual recovery in the palm of my hand. I began making them for people in recovery or experiencing bereavement to use not just as a token, but as an example of healing they could keep with them through their daily lives. Shortly after that I began engraving the pieces to make them even more unique. 

People in the mental health field began to ask about these pieces because their patients might benefit from having a personal connection item made from this rare material by people who care about the people receiving them.  Wellburl was formed to meet the demand and wellburl.com is the end result.

The majority of our burls are sourced from our relationships with arborists and sawyers who come across them through their pruning, tree removal and milling work. We use only natural products in our finishing processes and do our best to reuse packing materials as we ship to you. At year-end we will donate 5% of our profits to help conserve forests like the one where this story began. Finally, we're not here to market to our customers. If we're doing this right, you'll be back when you need us.