Having planted probably 30+ trees at this point, waited RL weeks for them to grow, and recently watched a bunch of newbies kill 6+ of them prematurely (before they're worth boards, /cry), I wholeheartedly agree with the OP's suggestion.
At one point I had 4 herbalist tables churning trees out constantly (refreshing them 2-3 times a day for 3-4 days.) Yet I'm still woefully short on boards because of how long it takes the things to grow.
Trees definitely need to have reduced pre-reqs to plant. The alternative is less appealing (have trees grow faster.)
At this point I've given up on my "be that sweet tree-planting maniac who creates forests around his land", as I've realized that unless I protect every single tree I grow I won't even have enough for myself. :/ Which is sort of a bad direction for the game to have forced me in.