I picked up five trees today for my front and side yard (for only $103 bucks!!!). I got two Shumard Oaks that will one day(hopefully) look like this (obviously this is not my tree):
I also picked up two Sun Valley Maple:
And a Chestnut tree:
These will go in the front and on the side of my house. I’m thinking about something ornamental in between the sidewalk and the road, but I want something native, so I am still thinking.
Still haven’t made any decisions on the backyard because I need to plan where I eventually will put a garage and my raised bed gardens.
I AM VERY EXCITED FOR TREES!
Gin & Tonic
Oak trees produce acorns. Large oak trees produce lots and lots of acorns.
Major Major Major Major
Yay trees!
Why aren’t there pictures of the ones you got?
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
You should get a sycamore. Sycamores are the best trees. Great shade trees, and the mottled bark looks sublime.
Yutsano
You should also ask Doug if it hurt.
Also: more trees good. Especially apple trees.
John Cole
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): AND SQUIRRELS. It produces squirrels. Which there used to be a ton of them around here and now there are none and I want them back.
And I know they cause all sorts of problems but I like them.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I’m sitting here, listening to the waves wash up on the shore of the Caribbean 300 feet from me, in the shade of the coconut and papaya trees, but nothing beats a sycamore.
The Dangerman
You remind me of a small redwood sapling that I helped a cousin plant about an hour south of Portland (OR) when we were both in Grade School; it was the tiniest thing (think Charlie Brown Christmas tree), I figured it had no chance. It’s now a massive REDWOOD that’s taken over the front yard of the property. I don’t know how far north redwoods will happily grow, but I can verify that about an hour south of Portland is still good for them.
Barbara
My local garden center has a little kiosk where it provides information on trees, and there is a sign with the following nugget of wisdom:
Q: When is the best time to plant a tree?
A: The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.
That chestnut tree looks really pretty. For a native tree, you could plant chionanthus virginicus, although it might not be easy to find. (https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CHVI3)
Barbara
@John Cole: Squirrels are really kind of amazing if you think about them the right way. They are one of the only undomesticated animals that are mostly unafraid of people, enough so that they don’t run away as soon as they sense your presence.
Gravenstone
Just make sure you have guidance when planting them. I tore out nearly a third of my trees because many were planted too close together and couldn’t prosper. The fact that they’re shitty softwoods (native willow, primarily) made the decision less difficult. I’d love to have a dozen or so hardwoods scattered about the property to enjoy.
Major Major Major Major
@The Dangerman: Cole reminds you of a small redwood sapling?
Gin & Tonic
@John Cole: Well, unless I fell asleep at some point in middle school science, I don’t think oak trees produce squirrels. For the record, i am not fond of either squirrels or acorns. I’ll be happy to send all of mine to you if you pay for postage.
Say, how much do you think it would cost to sent a couple of 55-gallon drums of acorns?
Major Major Major Major
@Gin & Tonic: less than sending a couple 55-gallon drums of squirrels! Assuming they’re live squirrels that you want to stay that way of course.
Gravenstone
@The Dangerman: We had a couple of walnut trees in the backyard of the farmhouse I grew up in. When I left nearly 30 years ago, they were modest, maybe 6″across. Visited a couple of weekends ago, and they’ve finally become decently mature, 12-15″ trunks. I love hardwoods, but damn they’re slow to develop.
TenguPhule
@Gin & Tonic:
So John Cole can go on a wild foods diet.
GregL190
So basically, in about 5 years or so, we’ll be reading posts of Cole bitching and moaning about all the fucking leaves he has to rake up and how they clog up his rain gutters. Looking forward to it…
Mnemosyne
I love trees. We have more than you’d think in So Cal, and a lot of natives (including live oaks and chestnut trees). I’m looking forward to my trip to Lake Arrowhead so I can commune with a bunch of trees.
One of the selling points at the venue where we got married was that they have 2 or 3 mature redwoods on the grounds. We have some lovely pictures under them. ?
Roger Moore
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Avocado. They’re fantastic shade trees. Plus, avocados! Unfortunately, I don’t think they would work in West Virginia’s climate.
O. Felix Culpa
It’s fun growing shit and shit helps them grow.
trollhattan
Chestnuts are glorious and I’m jealous, out west we get crappy Chinese horsechestnuts that make messes and produce poisonous fruit that nevertheless my dogs are willing to try and eat. Have they hybridized these to be blight-resistant? It basically wiped out the American chestnut and even helped end the passenger pigeon.
Hannah Huckaby
Dogwood trees!
jl
“I’m Growing Shit”
I thought W VA had legalized backyard pot for a second. Good luck with the trees.
Would be interesting to see pics of the actual trees, even though won’ be as impressive as ones shown (which were not clearly labeled as examples, BTW, Another ethics scandal for this here miserable lefty almost top 10,000 blog?)
Good luck and I look forward to progress pix.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne:
I suppose any positive number is greater than zero, yes
BroD
No, no–Sycamores are dirty old trees–they drop their ugly junk all over the place.
For ornamental, Dogwood & Red Bud!
Lapassionara
I planted a willow oak last fall, and I plan to plant a red maple this fall. Planting the oak was an act of faith, as it will take several years to provide any real shade. Of course, I planted it before the election, when I had more faith in the future.
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
The main campus of the Giant Evil Corporation where I work has squirrels that will eat out of your hand. They have signs up asking people not to feed the squirrels, but with our company’s history, how were people supposed to resist? ?
I had one jump up on the bench where I was eating lunch and it scared the bejeebers out of me. It was very indignant, like, You knew what you were getting when you chose to eat your lunch here!
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Did Cambridge Analytica tell the Russian trolls what to target?
David Morris
Sycamores are great because they become HUGE! But that takes a long time. If you have shady areas, Redbuds are a good choice for fast growth and showy early Spring flowers.
trollhattan
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Great for shade, forming a canopy over the street in neighborhoods with lots of them, and also very messy. Ours (London plane here, mostly) get anthracnose, causing a lot of leaf drop.
I do so miss our elms, most of which succumbed to Dutch elm disease.
MomSense
Please consider how big the trees will be in 20 years before you plant them. The previous homeowner at my house planted a lovely Japanese maple and a Norway maple too close to the house. I have had to do some major pruning to keep them off the roof. Ugh.
She also planted a pine tree much too close to the house and I’m not a fan of coniferous trees planted on the south side of the house in places with long winters. We need the sunshine in Winter. Deciduous trees are a much better choice. Anyway the thing was not in good shape and had a lot of rust so I didn’t feel guilty about taking it down.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
They’ve been encouraging people to re-plant native trees since the palm tree blight began. Palm trees are not native to California, believe it or not. They’re imports.
And it depends where you go in LA. The older parts like Pasadena or West Adams have lots of gorgeous trees. Newer parts, not so much.
Spanky
@BroD: Seconded on the sycamores. They’re great out in the woods, but they drop shit and their seedpods are puffballs that spew everywhere when dry and end up like old kleenex when wet.
Oaks and chestnuts get damn big when mature. Don’t overdo your modest-sized lot.
Felonius Monk
@John Cole:
I will be happy to ship you dozens of squirrels (including one with a stubby tail), a slew of chipmunks, two skunks (one predominately white), several rabbits, and a woodchuck. Let me know your shipping address.
Oatler.
“Number one…CLICK the larch…”
efgoldman
@Barbara:
It depends on their environment. City park squirrels have no fear of humans, and will literally jump on a person to get the peanuts or popcorn. In my back yard, the country squirrels zip up a tree as soon as we open our back door.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
Do you have room on your lot for all those big (not yet, I know) trees and a garden? As they mature, you’re going to lose a lot of sunshine.
I love trees. But I always have to think about where to grow sun plants.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic:
Oak trees tend to shed branches. Large oak trees tend to shed very large branches.
jl
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): What kind of sycamore? Different type of trees get called that. You mean a planetree, Platanus?
Cole, you have a lot of room for big pushy tree? Have fun pruning in the middle of winter and chopping out roots and cleaning up after it. They are pretty though, in a wild kind of way. I had to deal with several of them on in long ago past.
different-church-lady
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Facebook: fuckin’ evil.
opiejeanne
We had to cut down three trees last week, or rather we had them cut down. Two were dead because of the drought, the third was the victim of a late, very wet snowstorm in February:the snow bowed the multiple trunks of one birch tree to the point that the top was dragging on the ground and we left it in hopes that it would eventually straighten up. It didn’t and it was starting to die so it’s gone from the middle of the line of birch trees at the front of our property, like the missing front tooth in a 7 yo’s grin.
TL;DR: we need to plant more trees next spring. We’ve planted an average of two each year we’ve lived here, mostly fruit trees.
Gin & Tonic
@different-church-lady: True, too.
efgoldman
@trollhattan:
We have a hickory that’s beautiful. This time of year it drops the nuts. They are large and make a huge thwack (and hurt if they brain you) but the squirrels love it.
We also had a big, old shagbark hickory that dropped about twice as many nuts every year, but it got diseased and we had to have it taken down.
AdamK
@John Cole: If you have deer in your neighborhood, make sure you protect the baby trees from the deer.
different-church-lady
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:
I recently worked with a fellow who knows the guy who wrote that algorithm for Cambridge Analytica, and said that guy was horrified with how it was used and what resulted.
jl
If Cole is willing to put up with pushy stuff, how about a flowering dogwood. I think the flowers are beautiful. W By God VA native, or you can get whatever subspecies you want and pass it off as such. Won’t get big though.
MazeDancer
What lovely news. Congrats on the new trees, John.
Trees make great friends. Felt that way since I was a tot.
Seeing how they grow and change from year to year is most rewarding. Even if one moves, you can still drive by when in that area. Or, and, yes, I have done this, look up your old address on Google maps. They don’t go by every year, of course, but it’s cheaper than a cross country flight.
jl
@BroD: Yeah, Red Bud too. Sorry I missed your comment.
Barbara
@jl: The web site I posted above is pretty amazing. If you search dogwood, you get 29 different varietals and if you click on them you can see what areas they are native to. Some are native to West Virginia, and some aren’t.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@different-church-lady: Yep.
Major Major Major Major
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I know somebody who planted a bunch of young redwoods, like, up against their house, so, enjoy, future owners!
mbt
@The Dangerman: I live on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, right next to Canada. There are huge redwoods in Port Gamble WA, on the Kitsap Peninsula, directly across the Hood Canal from us. I think there are some redwoods in Port Townsend too. So, given the right climate redwoods will grow very far north.
AMinNC
For a native ornamental, I love redbuds (cercis canadensis). Gorgeous early flowers, good fall color, and a really pretty form.
Roger Moore
@The Dangerman:
Where something will succeed in the wild and where they can survive with humans to protect them from competition turn out to be very different. Of course a redwood will never achieve maximum height without regular fog. They can exceed the normal height limit for trees, which depends on how high they can lift water using their vascular system, by getting water for their highest branches from coastal fogs.
Roger Moore
@Gin & Tonic:
Less than sending a couple of drums of squirrels.
Spanky
OT, but since we’ve been talking a lot of weather lately, howzabout some space weather?
I remember Halloween, 2003. Green and red! aurorae down to the celestial equator as seen here near Washington DC. Good times.
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
Sadly, the redwood revenge story earlier this year proved false.
I’ll second never, ever plant a palm, at least not a Mexican fan palm. Pretty when small and easily trimmed they become gigantic vermin factories when larger and exuberantly reproduce. Our last was cut down a decade ago and at present I have at least fifty volunteers in the yard that need digging up. If you must, the California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) is a true native (although, a limited original range) and not quite as much of a weed.
opiejeanne
@Major Major Major Major: Don’t be smart. A lot of cities in SoCal went on tree-planting binges, giving away trees to residents who wanted them. I think the earliest program I know of was in the early 1900s; Anaheim had a program between 2003 and 2010. Oaks, eucalyptus, redwoods, magnolias, liquid-ambers, camphor trees. Of course there were also palm trees, carobs, pepper trees, and massive ficus that tore up the sidewalks.
When you drive along certain freeways in Orange County there are miles of trees visible with blue flowers in the spring, jacarandas planted as street trees. Glorious to view but not a good street tree because of the mess of the dropped flowers. We had two houses with them in the back yard; beautiful shade trees if planted in the right place. Who cares if they drop the flowers on your grass? The effect is stunning.
We had many more trees at each house we owned in SoCal than at the place in Castro Valley. We had half an ash tree (straddled the property line) and the two fruit trees that we planted. Our last house in Riverside had two or three redwoods as street trees on the side street, a magnolia, two avocados, a jacaranda, three specimen palm trees, a pecan, and peach and apple trees that we planted. We sold a big palm tree to a landscaper for The Golden Nugget in Vegas.
Kay
I have huge oaks and I love them but they really dominate when they’re grown and giant. If you get more than one you’ll have gorgeous oak trees on a kind of savannah.. :)
HRA
Cleveland pear is an ornamental tree that I bought for $3. I have 2 Lombardy poplars, 11 maple (one a silver maple), 2 fir trees, 1 crooked stick tree, 1 mulberry. Squirrels love the Mulberry tree. I also have 1 unknown tee. Trees and plants pop up mysteriously on our property.
We had 8 trees cut down last summer. They were wind and winter damaged.
trollhattan
@Oatler.:
This reference I get. Coffee’s working!
JPL
Poor guy sold his soul to Trump and yet .. CNBC
John, Great selection of trees and enjoy!
Hungry Joe
Here in San Diego (our house is 4-5 crow-miles from the ocean) my Rule of Trees is: Since we have to water you, and water is precious, you must produce fruit. In our small backyard I’ve crammed — I mean, artfully arranged — Meyer lemon, kumquat (600-800 this year), navel orange, avocado (seven years, still hasn’t produced; may have to go), Mexican papaya (new), black mission fig (just two years old, and it gave us about 50 figs this year; picked the last one a few days ago), apricot (four varieties grafted onto one trunk), peach, and Mexican lime.
Hungry Joe
@Oatler.: ” … the LARCH.”
The Moar You Know
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: The problem with a corporation is that they can’t be impeached.
I suspect when the true depth of complicity by various social media outlets in the throwing of this election comes to light…nothing will happen.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: I believe that Glendale still gives away trees, I asked my landlord to plant some and he refused. Here’s how the conversation went:
Me: Hey the city will give you trees to plant, how about getting some cause my unit gets hot AF.
Landlord: I don’t want to plant any trees cause they may get into the sewer line and I’m not sure where that is; anyway you had trees but you asked me to cut them down.
Me: Those trees were dead…
Ohio Mom
Our house came with over a half-dozen good-sized trees, which is one of the reasons we liked it enough to buy it. Over the years, we have learned that trees are expensive.
We have to pay to have them trimmed every now and then because when their branches were touching the roof, it made a nice highway for the carpenter ants who thought the attic was a great place to set up a homestead.
We also learned that big trees too near the house take a lot of moisture out of the ground during dry summers, and that dry ground leads to your basement moving, and that moving basements cost a lot to repair. Though in fairness to the trees, the basement has a number of other fatal flaws that have nothing to do with them.
Looking back, prople as naive as we were probably should stick to apartment living.
ruemara
Oh. I was hoping you were planting some fruiting trees. But you can’t go wrong with planting any tree that works right in the region and maples are lovely. Japanese maples moreso. Congrats and may they live long in grace and beauty, sheltering many generations until their venerable selves pass on by falling on Nazi.
@Hungry Joe: That’s what I’m talking about.
The Dangerman
@Hungry Joe:
….are damned good and make incredible lemonade.
I was down around Escondido around a couple of years ago and found something called fuerte avocados. They don’t ship well, so, commercially, they aren’t viable, but damn, they are good, too.
Shana
@Gin & Tonic: As someone who lives on a heavily treed lot in a town called Oakton, I get you. I really get you.
Shana
@Mnemosyne: Have fun tonight! I expect a review tomorrow.
RobertDSC-iPhone 6
I got money on you finding the mustard when you dig holes for the trees, Cole.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@jl: I was thinking of the American sycamore.
trollhattan
@Ohio Mom:
Probably mentioned this already but last year I encountered the biggest crane I’ve ever seen on a neighborhood street. Arborists were removing a drought-killed Ponderosa pine, 80 feet or so tall, from a backyard OVER the house and out to the street, total distance at least 30 yards. I’m certain that bill was into five figures. Friends in the Sierra foothills lost five on their property but as no cranes were involved it was only $5k.
joel hanes
The chestnut will be glorious if given lots of elbow room.
Their crowns are famous for being wider than tall, and covered with flowers in season.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@RobertDSC-iPhone 6:
I had been wondering whether he ever found the mustard when he moved.
karen marie
@Gin & Tonic: I had a huge old oak over my garden in the Fenway Victory Gardens. Every fall it was like walking on marbles, most especially in years with a dry spring and summer. Any tree is going to make a mess but oak and chestnut make more mess than just leaves. Maybe he’ll get a pig to eat the acorns? (Dogs who eat acorns can experience “mild to moderate gastrointestinal upset.”) Oh, boy!
Congratulations anyway. I like a nice juniper myself. They grow fairly fast and don’t shed leaves, have no nuts or pine cones or drippy sap, but they don’t give shade like a beautiful acorn-y oak tree will.
opiejeanne
@Mnemosyne: I didn’t know about the palm tree blight. I don’t like them very much but Washingtonia filifera is native to Southern California.
They used Washingtonia robusta palms as street trees in some areas of Riverside; the big palm in my front yard was a “frond” palm with a broad trunk, not a fan palm and I’m confused about what it was.
Jack the Second
Might I suggest a catalpa? They are native, both to the continental US and, if I recall correctly, to West Virginia specifically.
Catalpas have large, broad leaves and long bean-like seedpods (filled with papery seeds, not beans), both of which are great fun for small children. They are rot-resistant and historically used as fence posts, where they were famous for putting down roots and sprouting leaves and resuming life as a tree, after being split in quarters and planted.
Denali
@trollhatan,
Was I a Sandhill Crane or a Whooping Crane? I have trouble telling the difference. The size might indicate.
Elie
Two possible suggestions that are favorites of mine: Dogwood and a Japanese maple. Dogwood should do well in WVA and are gorgeous and lacy in the spring with beautiful red berries in the fall. There are many varieties of Japanese Maples — gorgeous shapes and a variety of leaf colors from pale green through the darkest red and purple. These both can add a lot of interest to your landscape and are not big trees. They mix well with other landscape plantings.
John, don’t forget about the importance of variation of texture and color in your landscape. If you plan well you can have something of interest to the eye no matter what season… Some of the smaller interesting shrubs include lacecap hydrangeas and verbena. I also love Japanese forest grass which loves shade and can be planted for interest under trees and larger shrubs…
Have fun! It is so healing in these horrible times to think about growing things….
New Deal democrat
For an ornamental between the sidewalk and street, consider American mountain ash, Sorbus Americana.
Smallish (grows to 30-40 feet), large clusters of showy orange seeds, good street tree, and native to West Virginia.
Mnemosyne
@Shana:
Here’s a gif of me outside the Pantages tonight. ?
And I specifically bought Kleenex to bring with me, because I’m gonna need it. ?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Something’s happening at the Pantages tonight?
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
There’s always something happening at the Pantages. ?
bluefoot
@Oatler.: “…the LARCH”
ETA: damn, Hungry Joe beat me to it. Nice to know I’m not the only one who remembers this….
Wapiti
@Barbara:
We lived in a small apartment complex in California, and the squirrels weren’t particularly afraid of the cats. Cautious, yes, but the squirrels could go up a tree pretty quick and knew it. One of the cats chased an old, clever squirrel up a tree, and halfway up the trunk the squirrel turned and bit the cat on the nose. Cat didn’t go up a tree after a squirrel again.
rikyrah
The trees will be beautiful, Cole.??
SiubhanDuinne
I think that I shall never see
A man so turned on by a tree.
A tree whose roots will wrap around
The pipes and sewers underground.
A tree that sheds its leaves each fall —
You’ll never ever rake them all.
A tree that Steve will climb, and then
Find he cannot come down again.
A tree where squirrels and other pests
Will obstinately build their nests.
Poems are lampooned with ease,
And John Cole bought a bunch of trees!
(All kidding aside, I love trees, and yours are going to be beautiful! Looking forward to your active participation in the Sunday Morning Garden Thread.)
opiejeanne
@Hungry Joe: We follow the same principle regarding trees. Almost every tree has to produce fruit. I did plant a line of flowering peaches along the fence line to obscure the chain link fence and give us some privacy from that neighbor. She wanted a chain link fence, said she’d split the cost, but when it was in she said she didn’t realize how see-through it was going to be, that she’d be able to see our kids and their friends in our backyard, and refused to pay for it. The trees were prettier than her house. She was kind of a nut. The fence was to keep her dog in but she didn’t install a tall enough gate at the other side of her yard so she had to go to the post office to get her mail for about a year.
swiftfox
Difficult to tell because of the distance of the tree from the camera, but the size of the chestnut tree would indicate that it may be a horse chestnut. It may be a spanish or chinese chestnut based on the height. American chestnuts never get to tree size because of the blight. Horse chestnut leaves are palmate-shaped, like the fingers on a hand. American chestnut leaves are more toothed than horse chestnuts. Prefer horse chestnut to spanish or chinese because they are naturalized.
Hungry Joe
@The Dangerman: Yeah, fuerte avocados are special. Meyer lemons are the best; they were created about 100 years ago by crossing lemon with Mandarin orange. They’re hard to find in stores — maybe because they don’t bear heavily year-round, and maybe because (my theory) the thorns are downright vicious. But it’s worth the occasional “Goddammit!” and a Band-aid. You can practically eat the lemons plain, and most of them are so perfect-looking that you’d swear they’re fake.
Aimai
@Gravenstone: yes! I had neighbors who planted sux trees in a dmall cambridge front yard. Crazy! They either pulled most of them out or the trees strangled each other. But if I hsd the land, weather, and sun that john has Id be putting in sour cherry, plum, and cooking spple trees. Id never waste space on oaks!
Ruviana
@BroD: Long ago, in a forest far far away…..tree wars!
Baud
I’m growing shinola.
Just One More Canuck
@Mnemosyne: Enjoy
Another Scott
@The Dangerman: My old office-mate planted a redwood in his NoVA yard when his son was a toddler. Beautiful tree when I saw it about 30 years later, but even at that young age it was getting so big that it was disrupting the foundation of the house. He was going to have to cut it down…
Big trees are beautiful and amazing, but they just don’t fit on 1/4 acre lots. :-(
Good luck, JC.
Cheers,
Scott.
Felonius Monk
@Baud:
I think there is a campaign slogan in there somewhere: BAUD 2020 — Can’t tell …
jharp
Make sure you plant them properly. I still an amazed at how many professionals fuck it up.
Mostly by planting them too deep. Or piling the mulch way too high.
Here is a link to the Arbor Day Foundation with proper instructions. It’s served me well and I’ve been plating trees since 1988.
https://www.arborday.org/trees/planting/
Tom DeVries
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: My first thought as well. Every tree I planted at my house is, 20 years later, too close to the building.
burnspbesq
@Roger Moore:
Maybe not now, but …. Our family joke is that we should all move back to our Upstate New York roots, invest in farmland, and our kids will become the Avocado Kings (and Queens) of the world by 2050 or so.
geg6
I recommend dogwoods and Japanese maples. Those are my favorites in our yard. Just beautiful trees.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Right, and I suppose when your ass itches, you scratch your elbow.
seaboogie
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Sycamores have really pretty canopies too!
japa21
@Tom DeVries: Amazing how buildings move like that.
chris
Good luck, John Cole. I was just out visiting my favourite red oak. Somehow it has survived the storms and waves of loggers for at least the last two centuries. It’s old now and hemmed in by coniferous trees but still pretty impressive. The trunk is about four feet in diameter and he’s 80 feet high and 60 wide. Hope you have lots of space.
Another Scott
@The Moar You Know: Yeah, they didn’t use use social media to incite racial hatred in South Africa or defend Pinochet from extradition so it’s no big deal, really.
:-/
Seriously, these “social media” outfits (and the advertising outfits that hire them) are showing that they can’t be trusted and they can in fact be extremely dangerous.
Be careful out there…
Cheers,
Scott.
geg6
@Hungry Joe:
I don’t have to water but I do love our fruit trees. We have pears and apples and peaches. But my yard would probably fit two or three of Cole’s (almost 2 acres) so we can have a lot of trees. And we do, of many varieties. It’s one of the best things about our yard.
Baud
@Another Scott: That’s why I stay in here.
Gvg
No sycamores. Leaves are too big and they mat down and kill everything plus repel water. They also blow around and annoy neighbors.
Horse chestnuts are not related to chestnuts. They have bred blight resistant chestnuts called dunstan chestnuts for the guy who bred them. They were a huge wildlife food and when they disappeared they must have also impacted the animals who ate them like bears and deer. I suspect that is why modern animals don’t grow as big. Plant them well away from house so you don’t have to cut them down too soon.
Maples are weak wooded trees. Keep away from houses but they are beautiful if not too close.
Oaks will grow fast just fine if you fertilize and water properly instead of plant and forget.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
People have mentioned American chestnuts here–there’s a group working on bringing back a blight-resistant version. They have a website, of course, and if you require more information I urge you to go and check it out. To save time, here is their FAQ page.
Disclaimer: my brother-in-law has been involved with the Maine chapter for many years.
A Ghost to Most
@burnspbesq:
Too late. The Amish have bought up much of lake plain farmland in WNY.
Amish avocados?
Mike S.
@AMinNC: John, I enthusiastically second redbuds as a nice small front yard tree. Another great small tree for a yard is red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) th flowers are red and they are a treat for hummingbirds when they return in the spring!
Trollhattan
@Denali:
Heh. There would have been whoops if they’d have dropped a hunk of that massive thing on the house, so I’ll go with badly off-course whooping.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
112 comments and still on topic? what happened to this blog, man?
TenguPhule
Holy Shit, its the Eye of Sauron.
TenguPhule
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
In the good old days we switched topics like Republicans swap trophy wives.
BCHS Class of 1980
@Mnemosyne: I call them “shakedown squirrels.” Saw some years ago at the Grand Canyon. Bold little bastards.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Nothing matters anymore.
raven
@TenguPhule: I have an important meeting in Macon Friday and I’m getting numerous emails asking if we are going to proceed given the possible evacuations on 1-75.
TenguPhule
@raven:
I sincerely doubt that meeting is going to happen at this rate.
Holy Fuckballs that storm is big.
stinger
Tree hugger here. Thanks for thinking native trees, and large shade trees. Too many people go for quick results from small, understory ornamentals, and we are losing our overhead canopy that songbirds need. Stick with hardwoods in areas where you will be mowing the lawn. I love my sycamores, but hate having to pick up branches every single week before I can mow.
raven
@TenguPhule: I’m the one that has to make the call.
Denali
@
SiubhanDuinne,
You have a gift when it coming to creating verse!
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Just looked at BJ today and saw the Nikki Haley bullshit about the Iran nuclear deal. Could the rest of the signatories ignore the US if it declared Iran not in compliance? What would the US response be?
TenguPhule
@raven:
So have you made it yet?
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
1. Yes.
2. Kick it over to Congress. /No, I’m not joking, this is apparently Trump’s new fucking plan.
SiubhanDuinne
@Denali:
It’s mostly doggerel, but thank you!
raven
@TenguPhule: Nope, mulling it over. We have these meeting in Macon because it is centrally located in the state at the junction of I-75 and I-16. I’m consulting with a couple of colleagues but the idea of adjourning at 4pm on Friday is not looking good.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
You’re sounding all existential and Audenesque and shit.
Cheryl Rofer
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I used to go to so many meetings in Macon. Don’t miss them at all, at all.
raven
Grid willing!
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
It is so wrong of me to be smiling right now.
So wrong.
So very wrong.
(EDIT: No wishes for loss of life or even injuries to innocent people, of course. Hope all the grounds crew, kitchen staff, housekeeping, etc. stay safe.)
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: My bride goes tomorrow. Middle Georgia (formerly Macon State) has nice meeting spaces and they are very cooperative with us.
Another Scott
@Baud: Let’s See Action.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
TenguPhule
Georgia is the new Florida of News.
Fuck all exotic pet owners.
efgoldman
@raven:
Better to cancel and be overly cautious than the opposite. Keep yourself and all your colleagues safe, first.
joel hanes
@karen marie:
Maybe he’ll get a pig to eat the acorns?
Wild turkeys looooove them some acorns.
TenguPhule
@raven:
Current Forecast is for it to hit the entire state.
This is a class five right now. The only reason its not ranked higher is that the ranking scale stopped at five.
Another Scott
@Another Scott: Really? Sent in the dungeon for a 6 word post?!!?
(sigh)
Help?
It was a link to a Townshend song:
Cheers,
Scott.
jharp
@Gvg:
I think locust trees are the best yard tress. Leaves are thin enough to grow nice grass under yet still provide nice shade. Also sugar maples are very nice.
Funny thing. I’ve been planting trees since 1988. Back when I started I was always looking for fast growing trees. Now I much prefer slow growing trees. It’s much less work.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Baud loves living on the edge.
Mohagan
Let me put in a strong vote for planting native trees, if you like birds. Pretty much all birds (even the ones which eat fruit as adults) feed their babies on caterpillars and other insects (the protein, you know), and the insects which live in an area can only eat stuff from native trees, since that’s what they evolved with. Exotic trees, no matter how pretty, contribute practically nothing to the local wildlife.
Mnemosyne
@Cheryl Rofer:
And they say there’s no such thing as God’s wrath … //
Jack the Second
@SiubhanDuinne: Mar a Lago closes down every May 14 for hurricane season. It’s why the Prez spent the last holiday moping in NJ.
danielx
I get a little chill thinking of Cole digging large holes with dangerous implements like shovels. Using a power auger? No no no….
?BillinGlendaleCA
I guess since the smoke is obscuring everything in Seattle, the kid has taken to posting pictures of her meals on Facebook while she’s on vacation.
TenguPhule
@danielx:
Cole was in the army. He should be fine.
Mops on the other hand, he can’t be trusted around. And gods forbid he ever gets on another ladder.
LurkerNoLonger
@Cheryl Rofer:
Trump (shakes his fist at the sky): “God, why have you forsaken me?”
God: “Do you want the list in alphabetical order?”
danielx
@TenguPhule:
He was a tanker, they don’t do foxholes.
scav
Not even reading, but jumping right in as I assume we’re ALL EXCITED ABOUT TREES! and should therefore be about the gazillionith to say that. Whew. Yea trees and other green things (including impending swoops of spinach for personal reasons).
stinger
@jharp: Hey, I joined in ’88 too!
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Toldja she should have gone to Chicago. The air is nice and crisp this time of year, and still in the high 60s.
Aleta
Big solar flare, so maybe aurora visible in some places the next few days. Hampered once the moon rises or by clouds of course. May even include more southern than usual, like Ohio, they say.
raven
@TenguPhule: What entire state? I’m in Georgia.
TenguPhule
@danielx:
Even tankers had to go through basic like everyone else.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Normally it’s quite nice in Seattle this time of year, but fires…
TenguPhule
@raven:
My bad, I thought you were in Florida.
Major Major Major Major
@?BillinGlendaleCA: she doesn’t do that normally?
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule: People mop in the army. Also, as a tanker, he did not dig many holes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Aleta: I’m wondering how much one could see, since at least here, either the moon or the sun will be out all the time for the next few days. We’re, of course, pretty far south so it’s a moot point anyway.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: No, do you?
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus:
Most people manage to do so without dislocating their shoulder.
John Cole is not most people.
zhena gogolia
I need to do this. We have lots of beautiful old trees, but we need to plant some young ones.
Major Major Major Major
@?BillinGlendaleCA: my generation is famous for sharing pictures of food on social media. I do it very rarely though personally.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I used to go regularly (even back when it was Macon State College) to various international curriculum meetings. There was an English Professor there who worked hard to get a Canadian Studies program going. It was through his program that I spent a lovely day with Bill Kinsella, and talked nonstop baseball.
japa21
@LurkerNoLonger: Actually, Trump is probably hoping it hits Mar-a-Lago. He will rake in so much money through insurance fraud, it will become known, and the GOP will just shake their heads and look the other way.
TenguPhule
From the FTFNYT:
Of course there’s always a catch.
So Trump’s worthless fucker can’t really fuck this up because the schools and the food companies already regeared under the Obama admin regs and don’t want to spend more money to change it again. So healthier eating is here to stay at schools.
But all the push for it will devolve to the local level because the federal side is fucked up.
A Ghost to Most
@jharp:
Agreed. We have two 30 foot locusts that shade our house. Locusts can take a lot of wind, too.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
News from Antigua and Barbuda is grim–Antigua weathered the storm fairly well, given what Irma is, but Barbuda passed through the eye, which was apparently bigger than the entire island. Preliminary reports indicate structural damage is catastrophic, and they are conducting search and rescue operations now, with only one death formally confirmed at this point. The prime minister has stated that if José passes near Barbuda, they will need to evacuate the remaining population, as there’s really no place left to shelter.
The island was completely out of communication once the storm hit–the cell tower–or towers–were broken off, and satellite communication was apparently not possible (it would have been affected during the storm, but perhaps the antenna(s) were damaged as well. The airport runway is apparently blocked by debris but they hope to get relief flights in tomorrow.
The French government is also reporting extensive damage in their islands as well.
Puerto Rico is now in the hot seat. Reports say the eye is missing San Juan, but not by much.
The Guardian has fairly good coverage, and the FTFNYT appears to be making an effort as well.
Be wary of Twitter–I have seen some good sources there, but a rumor can be magnified rapidly when it has no real support. For example, I’ve seen reports of a death toll of 1000 on Barbuda, when there hadn’t been official rescue efforts in place long enough to establish much of anything except “This place has been devastated.”
chris
@a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio): Excellent coverage at Weather Underground.
https://www.wunderground.com/news/
Origuy
Wikipedia gives the population of Barbuda as 1638 in 2011, so 1000 deaths would be most of the island. Seems unlikely.
I’ve seen pictures of St Martin/Sint Maarten. It looks terrible. I was there in 2000. The airport is devastated.
Major Major Major Major
@Origuy: my CNN alert said Barbuda was “90% destroyed” sooo..
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Jesus fuck. I say that with all reverence.
Bodacious
OK, I’m so late to this thread, but for your very cheap trees, how about investing in a few insanely great watering bags. These were distributed by our local ‘Friends of Trees’, and they encourage root growth DOWN. So that’s a must anywhere near a sidewalk. Otherwise, you may pay for it in the end when your unruly roots start levitating the cement. Our city put out a list of trees that make good parking strip trees for our region. Maybe there’s recommendations out there near you.
ceabaird
There’s a great book, by Eric Sloane, called “A reverence for wood”. He discusses the placement of trees around buildings and also has recommendations for types of trees to plant around houses. Might be a good reference for where to put your trees.
Gretchen
Do redbuds grow in W. Va? I was knocked out by how beautiful spring is here in Kansas City. I came from further north, and they don’t grow further north than here.
Betty
@SiubhanDuinne: I have seen pictures from a local paper. It looks totally destroyed. Just awful.
The Golux
Cole, a helpful hint: don’t plant a tree in the middle of your f’in yard. If you put it there, it’ll eventually dominate everything. Plant the trees toward the edge of the yard, to frame the house.
Gretchen
@The Golux: Like Golux said. I live in a 60 year old house with 60 year old trees. A recent storm uprooted a bunch of large trees and dropped them on the houses, crushing roofs. A little distance is a good thing.
Redbuds are very ornamental natives – about 15 feet tall, with gorgeous purple flowers in the spring.
J R in WV
@raven:
We fly through Atlanta Hartsfield Saturday evening on our way to Colorado. I don’t imagine the interstates will interfere, and it looks like it will be Sunday or Monday before they stop flying out of there.
But I would purely hate to fly into Atlanta only to be abandoned by Delta while this century’s super-storm swings in from Savanna or there abouts.
Gretchen
@Hungry Joe: 800 kumquats? What do you do with kumquats? Sorry the avocado isn’t producing. An avocado tree is my dream,which won’t come true here in Kansas.
J R in WV
@Gretchen:
I hear the skin is sweeter than the flesh of kumquats, and that they make a nice marmalade.
I bit into one as a child, and never had any more curiosity about them after that single experience.
BroD
TerryC
@jharp: I’ve planted 7000 trees on my property in four years. The black locust have gotten as tall as 30′ in just four growing seasons. Hybrid poplar are also very fast. Catalpa is a favorite.
HeartlandLiberal
Curious to know if the chestnut is a a genuine American Chestnut. They were almost wiped out in America, and there is a foundation dedicated to identifying the existing trees and cataloguing them, and supporting their reintroduction. We actually have two in a yard about a quarter mile from us that I walk by sometimes on my walks, and you can collect the spiny nut casings and nuts in the Fall off the sidewalk. I keep wanting to see if I can get one going from a nut, but I really do not have room left in the yard for another tree.
Here is the American Chestnut Foundation website: https://www.acf.org/