yeah it makes me sick how many people move into our beautiful wooded area these days and the first thing they do is massacre any tree on the property (even if it means clearing a nice clear line of site to something really ugly on the next property!), old sugar maples, old evergreens of various sorts, oaks, whatever- we don't want to rake (believe me you will need to rake in these parts anyway), we don't want deadly trees near us (!), we don't want nasty rabid skunks on our property (?!), we want a nice view (of the ugly appartment they snuck in on the next property; of the neighbor's garbage cans?), we want to increase the value of our property by making it look neat instead of all sloppy and junky (so beautifully placed 100 year old treaures are junky and ugly stumps and bare grass and empty mud patches and trash on your lawn is clean and nice?), etc.
and now they are not even just cutting big trees but in some cases any trees even little windbreak ornamental evergreens -------------------------------------------------- From: "Lee Frelich" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 10:31 AM To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ENTS] Re: Honorary native tree--a possibility?: Norway spruce > Spruce: > > My grandparents planted a Norway spruce when my uncle was born, and > another when my mother was born, in the yard of their house in Kenosha > Wisconsin. We recently sold the house as part of settling my uncles > estate, and were happy to hear that the new owners like the trees (now > 85+ years old), and do not plan to cut them down. So many home owners > today look at mature trees as a liability. A number of potential buyers > said they wouldn't buy the house unless all the large trees were cut > down, or they expected a discount on the price to compensate for the > expense of doing it themselves. > > Lee > > spruce wrote: >> NS Lovers: >> >> Wow! I have found some more Norway spruce enthusiasts. There >> really are a few of us out there—more about that in a minute. >> >> First, as for what they are doing in Mass—destroying the NS >> plantings. This is a shame, and it comes from people not >> understanding how these plantations grow. An unthinned/un-pruned, >> unmanaged NS plantation can be a very ugly thing to the casual/ >> uninitiated observer. My favorite plantation near Glady, WV can to >> some eyes, at the present stage of its growth, looks like one of the >> ugliest stands of trees on earth. It is so full of dead limbs, dead >> and dying overtopped trees, some of which are fallen over, that it is >> difficult to walk through. But, if one looks at the dominant trees— >> and this is an important point—NS trees express dominance over time as >> good or better than just about any other tree species—one’s eye is >> drawn upwards into what is an astonishing cathedral of soaring trees >> with wonderfully graceful weeping foliage, hanging like great green >> banners from the vaults. To my eyes—and I almost always look upward >> in a forest--the beauty of this stand is simply heart melting! >> >> I haven’t visited this stand in several years—I hope it is still >> there! The Rothkugel is recognized for its historical importance—the >> connection to Gifford Pinchot, etc. so it will never be cut. In fact, >> there may be some efforts to make it more open and accessible to >> visitors. As for the Glady stand—I talked to a Mr. Brenneman, who at >> the time was in charge of the woodlands management division of >> Westvaco, the owner of the stand, and expressed my feelings that he >> had something very special there—a stand of NS of an especially >> wonderful, and very distinctive genetic strain—so I have hopes that >> has had some influence. Mr. Brenneman was very nice and gave me >> permission to cut down a few trees to take some measurements, etc. He >> also gave me permission to get some seedlings, which are growing >> wonderfully, both in the mountains of MD and here in Winchester. This >> stand at Glady should be used as a seed source for NS, maybe not just >> for areas with the same climate, but perhaps over a somewhat wider >> area. My guess is that the original provenance was somewhere in the >> more eastern and sourthern area of Europe. The cones would seem to >> indicate that. I have not seen any other stands that look the same as >> this one. >> >> In the forestry community, there are a few—maybe more than a few— >> real NS enthusiasts. One is Professor Edwin White, Dean of Research >> at The Department of Forestry and Environmental Science at SUNY >> Syracuse (at the moment I am not sure this is the exact name of the >> department there). He directed a number of studies on NS a few years >> ago, the most interesting of which to the non-forester may be the >> growth curves study and the site factors study. If you contact him he >> will be more than happy to send a copy of these studies, and refer you >> to some others there, and elsewhere, interested in NS. >> >> As for unthinned plantations of NS, Ed White says that NS stands >> need no thinning to achieve the best development in the long run. He >> says the same of white pine. I am growing plantations of both species >> on my timberland (80 to 100 feet tall), but I do thin and prune—it >> simply makes the stands more enjoyable and makes them look better (re >> those in Mass that think they should be removed). >> >> Another NS enthusiast is Jim Kochenderfer, a forest research >> scientist at the N. E. Forest Experimental Station in Parsons, WV. He >> is the one who told me about the locations of various stands in WV, >> including the ones at Glady, and the Rothkugel. I hope Jim is not now >> retired—I have not talked to him for many years. He did a study on the >> release of small NS plantings overtopped by brush and saplings, etc >> using roundup. >> >> Well, I do go on and on. I have more to say/respond to later. I >> have to go now. >> >> --Gaines >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> > > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
