The Right Tree In The Right Place...

...Has been a buzzphrase for many years with arborists and foresters who work with trees in urban settings. This photo, (By Xiomara Levsen, Washington Evening Journal, Washington, Iowa; Used with permission.) not only illustrates why choices are important when planting, it also shows why you must re-evaluate trees and their environment periodically. This is a large tree in a small, restricted space. It probably fit this spot when it was planted, but in the years since there has been a new building added, with fill dirt and a retaining wall. That hurt the roots on one side of the tree.

On  the opposite side of the tree we see a roadway. Tree roots do not grow well under gravel or pavement. It appears from the shape of the roots that they may have been severed with a trencher. Anyway, this tree had limited rooting ability on two sides, which made it prone to tipping, and that is what it did. The only clue the tree shows that it was not in perfect health is one dead limb shedding its bark on the side above the roadway.

Anytime you are going to plant a tree it is a good idea to talk to a forester or arborist to discuss suitable choices for your site and situation. As your trees grow it is also a good idea to have them evaluated occasionally for problems that might arise as they mature. In this case, no-one was injured, but there is structural damage to repair, plus the expense of a tree removal. This tree should have been removed when the construction was being done around it, and a small to medium size tree should have been installed as a replacement.

Many Thanks to the Washington Evening Journal for allowing me to republish their photo.

More Than A Little Tipsy

We have had rain and wind, so I checked the tipping pin oak. Ten days ago it was 5 inches off plumb in 2 feet. Today it is a little over 5 5/8" off plumb in 2 feet. This tree is between 85 and 90 feet tall, and 5/8"  here represents a bit over two feet of movement at the top. This tree's top is now 20 feet off center. What with the root rot and general decline, I am betting this tree is in the pond before Christmas. I hope we have a little warning and can set up a camera for the big event, but it will probably do it in the dead of night or while I am at work.

Big Tipper

We ought to start a tree tipping pool and see if we can raise the money to pull this big boy out of the pond when it takes its dive. We have been watching it for many years after noticing that muskrat activity had undermined the south side of the root system.

It's big alright. The roots had mushrooms growing on them after rains this year, and the ground is kicking up on the north side.

In 2010 it was off by 2 3/4" in two feet. In recent weeks it has changed to 5" The change is very noticeable from the back porch, and we won't be surprised when it goes. I hope the squirrels survive the drop.

Recipe For Recurring Failures

Knock the top out of a tree, let the resulting sprouts grow as they wish, wait twenty to forty years for your disaster. I have been seeing that a lot lately. A thunderstorm in July tore down this white pine that had multiple competing tops. It only got a high tension line on its way down.

This tree was weakened by an injury long ago that broke the top out. It then grew competing tops that were not anchored to the center, and there was rot introduced with the injury, which you can plainly see in the second photo.

This red maple appears to be rot-free, but it had the same poor structure due to an injury many years ago. It also had a house for a target.

This pin oak has a similar history to the first two trees. The top was knocked out, and multiple branches all tried to be the top. Rot got into this one, too. The branch went clear to the frame of this home, and crushed a man in his bed. If you have a tree with this type of structure within striking distance of your home, barn, parking place, or picnic table, you might want to take it down. 100% of the trees you see in the forest will at some time end up on the ground. One of your priorities in life should be not to be in the way when it happens.

Take It Out!

 There is a right way to cable a tree to hold bad joints together, and this isn't it.    This cable is wrapped around the stems, killing the cambium layer with pressure, and opening avenues for wood rot fungi in every stem.

 The tree has bad branch angles and ingrown bark, and it should have been replaced before it ever became a mature tree.  The homeowner cabled it together in an attempt to save it, because it's an important shade at the southwest corner of his house...

...but it's just a disaster waiting to happen, and he has decided to take it out before it falls on someone or his home.

Something I Saw Out In The Ticks

 Judging from the growth of this willow tree, it looks as though this oil well has been sitting idle for fifteen years or more.  It's in a remote field that would require some chainsaw work along the trail in order to reach the location with a winch truck, and a well pulling unit couldn't reach it without a bulldozer clearing the way; so there it sits.

Loggers and sawyers see a lot of trees with metal embedded out of sight.  Catching a tree in the act of eating a solid object is always a thrill, and oddities like this are one reason that I carry a camera with me when I am out and about.

Yard Work

Mom and I did some pruning on her trees this week and admired her new ones she is growing. This is a Kentucky coffeetree we planted in September '07, when it was about one foot tall.
This beauty is a swamp white oak that Dad stuck in the ground in '03 when it was a 4" seedling. He laughed and said that he would never get to enjoy its shade. He watered and fertilized it, and had it up close to his knees before he passed away in 2005. We measured it today and it is 17' tall in seven growing seasons. These trees were planted to get the jump on the ash trees dying when the emerald ash borer comes to town; and we know it will.

Jungle Creep

Another forester once remarked that we worry too much about how we plant trees, because if we just leave a place alone for ten years the trees will show up anyway. It is nice to make your own decisions on which trees to grow, but he made a good point. Trees may look peaceful, but you have to beat back the forest on a regular schedule or it will take over a place.

Having One Of Those Days Every Day

This white oak popped up after being released by a harvest in the mid-1950's. Unfortunately, it is just a stone's (or trash) throw from a township road, and it came up right through the middle of a discarded tire. The landowner is doing some work in his timber, so he is going to save it from a slow strangulation, just in the nick of time. I see a lot of interesting discarded junk when I am out and about, but old tires in the woods are always ugly. It wouldn't be right to leave you with this image in your mind, so here is a closeup of a little flower like the ones growing around the tire.

That's better, isn't it?

Close Shave

This pecan tree had a very close call. Last September we had a powerful thunderstorm roll over us, and luckily for this tree, it was well soaked by rain before a lightning bolt struck it. The wet bark conducted the strike down along the surface, and as far as we can tell, the inner bark and sapwood were not injured. Some of the outer bark was blown off, but no real damage is evident. I was on the internet at the time, and this tree is only about fifty feet from where I sit at our computer. A hit that close delivers a very impressive, but brief sound and light show. I unplugged the modem and the 'puter. Better late than never.

Beautiful All Over Again

Remember how our sourwood looked when it was blooming last summer?

The fall payoff is pretty good, too.

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut!

This is Saturday's pick-up under our front yard chestnut tree. We WILL have chestnut dressing at Thanksgiving!, and lots of good, healthy snacks all fall and winter.

Watch Your Noggin!

It's good to remember once in a while that trees are quietly waiting to kill us. This pecan tree dates back to 1945, and has a lot of years left, but it is now shedding limbs that will seriously crease your cranium. This limb fell only a few feet from the trunk, but another of the same size landed thirty feet away on a dead-calm day. Planting large trees at least forty feet from your house is pretty good advice, and getting out from under trees on windy days, or when you tip them over is darn important. Keep an eye looking upward when you are working under trees, and wearing a hard hat is a pretty good idea, too.

Lean On Me

These pin oaks seem to have found a way to prevent being windthrown. Loggers will have a tough time if this catches on in the forest.

They really are grown together! I had to zoom in to make sure. This is something that you won't see every day.

Can It Be Saved?

This Bradford pear had a girdling root that wrapped around 270 degrees of the circumference. The homeowners had me look at this tree because it was failing. Doing surgery on a problem like this is not a sure thing, especially during a wet summer when fungus and bacteria have ideal growing conditions in the soil. I told the landowner how to proceed, and he has removed the root with a Sawsall and a sharp chisel. I will be taking a look later this week to see how the patient is doing.

Look Up When You Park, Or Stand Under A Tree

What goes up, MUST come down, and trees, even though they look like peaceable types, are often just waiting for a chance to kill you. I have had several close calls over the years, and the owner of this camper probably has newly found respect for trees. This limb came down during calm conditions in a public campground, while the family was sitting around a firepit just outside. There was about four feet of this limb sticking out the top of the camper; I am glad nobody was sitting in this chair. Whenever you pass by or pause under a tree, look up, down, and all around. Eventually all that wood you see standing in a forest is going to end up on the ground, and whether you are in the way when it comes down is just a matter of timing.

Chomp, Chomp

Who knew that sassafras was an omnivore? I will have to be careful about taking long naps under trees.

Trees Do The Darndest Things

I ran across this oddball red maple last week, and I thought about it for a bit, trying to figure out what happened here. It looks to me as if someone topped some saplings around this tree, cut openings in the bark of the big tree, and plugged the topped off saplings ito the wounds. Anyway, that is my best guess, which I support because of the large calluses at the junctions. Opinions?