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Comments:
Anna - 2005-02-21 13:39:46 That's really a shame, Anna. My aged neighbor in back of me kept a leafy green screen of elderberry bush-trees growing along his (and my) back fence. Because of this, I was able to hide away on my garden bench by my pond and be invisible and surrounded by greenness. They he died, and they "improved" things by sawing all the elderberries down. I suddenly felt naked. And realized how weedy my yard looked. Luckily elderberry grows fast. Plus on my side I have the famous line of underachieving thuja that hopefully will grow another exciting millimeter this year. At any rate.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-21 13:47:54 I dunno, I got the impression that the tree was already dead because of the ash-borer infestation. If so, I have no problem with harvesting the wood for art, or other uses. Even if the tree was not dead, the ash-borer will kill the host tree within 1-3 years of initial infestation. And then you have the increased risk of spreading the bugs to another tree, which seems worse... No matter how you look at it, it's a bad situation for the tree, and the people who love it. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 13:50:01 I agree. If the tree's killed because of those borers, there's no harm (indeed it's laudable to) harvest the wood somehow. But I believe that the ash borer doesn't attack other trees (like the grandpa walnut, reduced to bowls, in the story). But maybe I'm mistaken.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 13:50:03 Oh -- I agree; if the tree already had been infected with Ash-borer, it's a totally different story. Dutch Elm devastated my city, which was known for its Elm-lined streets. If people had known what was happening and cut down infected trees faster, more would have probably survived.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 13:53:35 Hm. I'm not sure. Nature moves in some mighty mysterious ways. For all I know there's some reason the elms are being "culled" by the ash borer. Scientists have found amazing interrelationships among living things. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 13:59:50 Well, when the parasite is imported it's like bringing an animal into an environment where there are no predators -- like the huge bunnie problem in Australia -- they've devastated the land, eating everything in sight. All for some foolish man's hunting pleasure.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 14:01:47 Indeed, I spoke too quickly, for the beetle in question is from Asia if I remember right. You're right Anna. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 14:03:31 You'll do well to remember that I'm always right ;-) By the way, is your furnace fixed? Is your immune system now kicked into hyper-overdrive from living in such a cold house? I bet you won't get sick for the next ten years.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-21 14:03:44 Missed the part about it being a walnut...oops. (on review of article)Hmmmm. You're right, it doesn't say how the walnut died. I really hope it was not just to make a bowl... Ash-borer only affects Ash trees, as far as I know. I was speaking of preventing its spead to other Ash trees. I, too, lived in a neighborhood devastated by Dutch Elm disease. It was terrible. We went from enjoying the beautiful, shady canopy of mature trees to naked stumps. Awful...* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 14:14:13 Anna: I will keep that in mind. :) Yep, the furnace is fixed, thank you for asking. And it turned out to be a good experience. I found out that, if layered, I can be comfortable at a lower temp than I thought. So I've permanently turned down the thermostat to 55 in the interests of conservation. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 14:16:26 Dan--good point, the article didn't really say *how* the old walnut died. Maybe it was struck by lightning or diseased. Still, it's a shame. There's an original Washtenaw County tree in Parker Mill Park next to the log cabin. That old grandpa really has a presence. I can't even reach around it. There's a Big Tree Club in Michigan somewhere that goes around and looks at big trees. They have a standing census of all the old grandpas.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 14:31:37 There is one in front of my house that would take two people to wrap their arms around it. It keeps the entire house cool in the summer. My fear is that it will acquire a parasite. It's an amazing tree; I hope I'm not around when it dies. By the way, one of my best friends is a Parker of Parker Mill. There are still a handful of related Parkers in the area.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 14:33:12 BTW, I admire your desire to preserve resources, but please be careful when turning the thermostat below 60 -- you may have just gotten lucky this time; pipe bursts are mighty awful indeed (just happened to my sister).* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 14:43:31 Wow. Talk about an oldster. Sounds wonderful. Do you know what sort of tree it is? I didn't know there were still Parkers here. Going to take a look at the plat maps to see where they lived. I've planted 3 cheerful cherries, one exuberant five-in-one fruit tree, a moody golden chain tree, a demure and lovely magnolia, another magnolia (I love magnolias best--the one in the Arb blows me away), two staid columnar apples, a fast-growing crab (boy is that one pretty in the spring), two regular apples, and a seed-grown maple from the big tree next door. And the fabled Purple Smoke Tree, currently still a Purple Smoke Twig, but she's coming along and will be a showstopper in a few years.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 14:46:18 Anna: re: pipes; you are right, it can get mighty cold under there at night. I've insulated most of the pipes but not the ones in the distant, too-shadowy, too-brown-reclusey, Stygian kitchen crawl space (a bit too far from the door-hole).* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 14:49:32 It's terrible that I don't know this, but I'm not sure what kind it is; I'll have to look. There's one right next to it with acorns, so I guess that's an Oak -- Maybe they both are; I need to look. The one bad thing is that they drop lots of debris in my gutters; I have to get them cleaned at least twice a year. One of the Parkers was as recently as the 70s a Dean at UM. Dean of exactly what, I forget. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 14:50:49 The pipe above my sister's kitchen burst during the last cold spell. It ruined much of the kitchen; the insurance company even agreed to retiling the entire room because there was so much damage.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-21 14:52:52 I forget which ones Magnolias are. Do they have dusky white/pink loose-pedaled blooms?* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 14:54:09 Yikes. How awful about the pipes. I'm sorry to hear that. Even more inconvenient in the dead of winter. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 15:05:18 Here are some possible leaves for your mystery tree--just a few, though. Here is the queen of trees, the magnolia. And the Golden Chain Tree. * * * * * * * * * * * * Suzie - 2005-02-21 17:31:20 Oooo- The golden chain tree is beautiful... it looks like warm breezes and sunny skies. It's family is Papilionaceae - butterflies.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-21 19:14:01 Wow--I didn't see the cool Latin family name--how pretty! It is gorgeous, isn't it? My GCT is only a few years old, and last year I got the first golden chain. Just one, but it was enough to totally delight me. Oddly enough, this lovely tree is deadly poison. It's funny how it seems that some of the most striking and floridly beautiful plants, like castor bean, or pokeweed, or datura, for example, (also called "Angel's Trumpet") are sometimes the most deadly. All 3 I cited can be lethal, yet the first and last are common in gardening catalogs (pokeweed is a weed).* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |
