Trees

[rmstevens2]

I love trees. I'm not a weirdo tree-hugger or anything like that, but I do really like trees.

I live in a heavily-forested area. Trees are fairly easy to grow.

Here are a few little ones I have planted in my backyard.

The most recent, a Chinese Pistache, is about five feet tall. They have fantastic flame-orange autumn color (not yet, though, in this case).



Below is a Shumard Red Oak. Its leaves are red-orange. My phone doesn't do it justice.



Southern Live Oak.

[rmstevens2]

Here is a White Oak I got online from the Tennessee Nursery. It was only two feet tall when I planted it. White Oaks live a long long time, but they're supposed to be slow growers, only about two feet a year. This tree, however, turned out to be an exception, because it grew about five feet this year, from two feet to seven feet.

It's lanky, but I'm hoping it will thicken up soon. It has already weathered some pretty fierce storms, so I think it's up to the challenge.

[rmstevens2]

Here is a Shantung Maple I planted out in my front yard this spring (the photo is from back then).



Texas A&M University calls the Shantung Maple, native to China, Korea, and Japan, a "Texas Superstar" tree, because it does so well here.

Unfortunately, I over-watered mine for a while back in August, which caused many of the leaves to develop brown spots. It could also be that the spot I have it in is too wet, since the soil here is largely red clay that holds water like mad.

I'm thinking about digging the tree up once it goes dormant and replanting it in the same spot, only higher, with a mound of earth around it.

[rmstevens2]

I dug up a Sumac and transplanted it today in an inconspicuous spot near the wooded lot that borders my property on the west. I did kind of a quick job of it, so I'm praying the little tree will make it.

[JonikW]

I was discussing favourite trees with my daughter the other day. She never believes me when I tell her I've shed genuine tears twice in my life when absorbing the sheer beauty of birch forests in Russia, although it's absolutely true. Other favourites of mine are the oak, the ash, the apple and the yew. I once lay my hands in awe on a yew tree in Wales that's estimated to be about 2,000 years old and was possibly here when Caesar came. For me, there's something very special about trees and our relationship with them. At this time of year I'm enjoying watching the slow fading and falling of the leaves on my daily walks.

[rmstevens2]

I was discussing favourite trees with my daughter the other day. She never believes me when I tell her I've shed genuine tears twice in my life when absorbing the sheer beauty of birch forests in Russia, although it's absolutely true. Other favourites of mine are the oak, the ash, the apple and the yew. I once lay my hands in awe on a yew tree in Wales that's estimated to be about 2,000 years old and was possibly here when Caesar came. For me, there's something very special about trees and our relationship with them. At this time of year I'm enjoying watching the slow fading and falling of the leaves on my daily walks.

Having lived in Russia, I know what you mean about those birch forests. I remember going on an outing to cook shashlik in the forest north of Zelenograd (north of Moscow). It was incredibly beautiful. Just as we started cooking the shashlik (shish-kebab for those not familiar with the Russian term), young girls in colorful scarves came by herding goats. I couldn't believe it. It seemed like something out of Dr. Zhivago or Taras Bulba. I thought, "You've got to be kidding me! Russia is still like that?"

I had a similar experience one night on the Moscow Metro when a group of people coming from a wedding got on and started playing accordions, singing old Russian tunes and dancing. My wife was embarrassed by the old-fashioned, country-folkism of the whole thing. I told her I thought it was awesome, but it was like something out of a documentary or an old movie.

[rmstevens2]

I dug up a Sumac and transplanted it today in an inconspicuous spot near the wooded lot that borders my property on the west. I did kind of a quick job of it, so I'm praying the little tree will make it.

I checked on that little Sumac this morning, and it is still doing well. Thank God!

This afternoon it started raining and has been raining non-stop since about 2:30 pm (14:30), which can't hurt. It's also quite cool but not too cold.

[rmstevens2]

In case you're wondering why I would dig up a Sumac and transplant it, here's the autumn answer.



Sumacs aren't really big trees, but their autumn color is really impressive. There are some right across the road from my house that look like that.

[rmstevens2]

Here in East Texas we have autumn leaf colors, but we're at least a month behind where we lived in Virginia. There are still leaves on most of the trees, and some of those leaves are still green. There are some nice bright red leaves on the White Oak I planted in my backyard last autumn, when it was just two feet tall. It's seven feet tall now (I mentioned that a few posts back and even posted a summer photo of my White Oak).

[rmstevens2]

Here's another tree post from me. This is a Red Maple from my backyard. We bought it out of a box at the back of Aldi - yes, Aldi - back in the spring of 2022. It was just a little skinny stick with no leaves. It had a tag on it that said it was a Silver Maple, and the price was right. Since it had no leaves, that's what I thought it was. I planted it out back, and it's done very well ever since. But once it leafed out it was clear that this "Silver Maple" is actually a Red Maple.

Oh, well. I like Red Maples, too!

I would have posted a more recent, autumn photo of this tree - it had really nice, reddish-orange leaves - but I waited too long, and now almost all the leaves have fallen off it.  Maybe next year!

Meanwhile, out front, on the east side of the driveway, I have a "Sun Valley" Red Maple that is just starting to hit its stride with reddish-orange leaves. I'm waiting for it to hit its peak before snapping a couple of photos. Hopefully I won't wait too long this time. 

This photo of the one out back is from this past August.

[rmstevens2]

I decided not to wait to post a photo of the Sun Valley Red Maple out front on the east side of my driveway. It hasn't reached its peak, and the photo doesn't do it justice, but it's got some nice red-orange foliage.

[JonikW]

I'm enjoying this thread and Rich's taste in trees. I mentioned some of my own favourites earlier but here are a couple of individual trees that have made a big impression on me. 

I don't know whether the news was big on the other side of the pond, but some idiot cut down the iconic (if anything ever deserved that description) sycamore at Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall this year.

Here's a pic I took of it during a walk along parts of the wall last year. That sycamore really was something magical at a location that was already incredible in itself.



Thinking about trees that have made an impact on me aside from the ones I mentioned before, we visited my uncle and his family in Australia last year and I was absolutely stunned when I stood on their back verandah late on the night we arrived and looked out at the bush in the darkness.



You can see the southern cross constellation in the branches of the incredible red blood gum tree beyond the garden. I stood there in the night just staring at the strange stars and inhaling the spicy, rich scent from the bush, which was unlike anything I'd experienced before. 

My Aussie relatives couldn't smell anything at all but I felt like I'd arrived in the land of the “Avatar” movies. Waking up the next morning and listening to the chorus of butcher birds and others that I'd never heard before only deepened that impression. I enjoyed Australia in ways I never expected as someone who feels so bonded to Europe, and the gum trees in the bush have left a deep impression.

[rmstevens2]

You know, a long time ago - exactly when, I'm not sure - someone brought a bunch of Eucalyptus (Gum) trees from Australia and planted them in California. They've done really well there. In fact, I think they may have escaped into the natural environment. Anyway, the smell of a grove of Eucalyptus trees is just amazing. There's nothing like it.

It's a downright shame about that Sycamore at Hadrian's Wall. Life in prison for the culprit isn't long enough.

[rmstevens2]

Oh, speaking of escaped trees, two that I remember that were brought from Europe and have escaped out into the natural environment of the eastern United States are 1) the English Oak, Quercus Robur, and 2) the Norway Maple, Acer Platanoides.

I love both of them so much, it bugs me that they are sometimes referred to as "invasive species". 

The English Oak is easily confused with our own native North American White Oak, and the Norway Maple is sometimes confused with our own Sugar Maple. We had both growing wild out in the woods in Virginia.

[rmstevens2]

I recall back in July of 2015 walking around in Chepstow, Wales. I noticed a lot of American Sweet Gum (Liquidambar Styraciflua) lining the streets. Those are all over the place in the eastern half of the USA, and they are even planted out West to supply some needed autumn color. 

I wonder if those have escaped in Britain.