Big hollow baldcypress in northeast Louisiana
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Just How Strong are Trees?
Comments (8)This is an issue I have thought about for many, many years. Here is how I analyze it. First, almost no tree is guaranteed not to be blown over or broken off by some really terrible wind. Some trees are practically immune if they are healthy and in the right kind of soil--deep and well drained. Among these are baldcypress. Next, if the area is a high hazard area--meaning that if a tree should blow down the damage would be catastrophic--then maybe that is not the place for any tree. Next, if a tree is weakened by some factor, then the risk is high and in areas where people can be injured, any weakened tree should be removed without any hesitation. Sometimes trees show evidence of weakness--maybe they are hollow, or there is a narrow fork, or there is some evidence of dieback in the crown, or there are fungal fruiting bodies coming up in the soil near the tree or out of the base of the tree. Any of these factors should be considered more than ample reason to remove a tree where it can be a hazard of any kind. I include the kind of damage discussed recently in the topic about a tree struck by lightning. Unfortunately there are a few cases where a tree is weakened by something that has no easily visible sign. If there is a very large tree in an area where it could be a special hazard, maybe an arborist should be contacted--cores can be taken to determine the soundness of the tree and the arborist may be able to determine what kinds of hidden risks a tree of a particular species and age might pose. If the soil has a high water table or has some other special characteristic that can make trees subject to wind throw, this risk must be considered. In areas like this perhaps the use of really tall trees should be limited. If a tree is a valued tree and it has some dead wood in the crown, a tree service--that will not use climbing spikes--should be hired to clean out the dead wood. I have seen a lot of paranoia about trees and the hazards they pose. I recognize those hazards, but if one knows something about trees and can recognize problems, then there is no reason not to plant trees and/or keep trees, even if they are close to houses. But too often I have seen people either ignore hazardous conditions in trees or not be able to recognize them. I have knocked on doors several times to alert homeowners about hazardous trees. Mostly I have been well received. I have even contacted the city authorities when I see a weakened tree--in these cases I have generally been ignored. Most of the trees I warned the city about did come crashing down and cars and houses were hit. I never called back the city tree people to say, "I told you so." But we need to educate people who have too much fear of trees. Life is not without risk. An airplane can fall from the sky any time, and your risk of that happening to you is probably considerably greater than winning a big lotto jackpot. And ones chance of being struck and killed by a HEALTHY tree if one stays indoors during really bad storms, is very, very small. --Spruce...See MoreTaxodium distichum vs. Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Comments (66)The largest cypress I've ever visited was the late, great Senator Cypress in Sanford, FL. It caught on fire and burned down some years ago. The story about how the fire started absolutely infuriates me and I won't go into it here. Volume should be the measuring stick for the conifers. In terms of volume, the Senator clearly exceeded the other well known bald cypresses in the South, including the Tennessee Titan. I have up close up photos of the Titan and have no doubt about this. The Titan was still a wonderful tree. The Cat Island, LA trees, which I have visited numerous times, are indeed huge at the base with a very quick taper. IMO, there are several cypress trees at Cat Island that are more impressive than the national champ, which I still suspect is two trees grown together, despite DNA evidence that apparently suggests otherwise. One of my favorite cypresses for form is the former Mississippi champion at Sky Lake WMA in west central Mississippi. The current Mississippi champion is located within 100 yards of the former champion. I have not visited the Arkansas champ yet, but from the photos I have it looks very impressive for form....See MoreRoll Call
Comments (40)Hi everyone. My name is Katie and I live just south of Germantown near Memphis. We just got our place here in August of 2004 and its my first real house with a yard. We have a yard of about 1/2 acre. We are having the greatest time getting things like we want them. We learned from experience that nothing grows where we are unless we do raised beds because of the heavy clay that was brought in to fill in our lot. We learned how to do them at the spring plant swap last year (2005). We came home and started building raised beds around the house. This year my DH built us 6 raised beds for our vegetable garden. We built them out of 1x8 untreated pine boards -- the cheapest way to go that we could find. We used the wall street journals that I brought home from work to line them with and have begun filling them with bagged leaves we picked up in the neighborhood, last year's grass clippings and some bags of topsoil bought at the store mixed in. We have also lined the spaces between and around the beds with newspapers and covered it with pine straw and it looks quite nice. We still have quite a bit of work to go before we can get anything to grow in the beds, but I have hope that it will be better than our attempts last year. Right now my DH is putting lattice up on some 4x4s we put up last year. We tried chicken wire, but it didn't work very well. We have two muscadines that have come back to grown up on the lattice we hope, as well as a wisteria on the front. We will have to build another one in the far back as we also have two white grape plants that came back. I will share some photos from this year later on for anyone who wants to see our raised beds. Katie & Rich (formerly DirtDiggingLady)...See MoreNeed Advice on 1 year old Bluestone Patio Flaking and Chipping
Comments (58)Oh, how I wanted my natural bluestone patio...well, it now looks anything but "natural." It's a hot mess! Original landscaper installed and used polymeric sand because that was "best." He recommended not sealing it. Or, as he said, "Let it sit a year and then seal it if you want to." Very shortly after installation, stones started turning orange or had deep orange/rusty spots developing like a rash. The polymeric sand grout started popping up like worms after a rainstorm by year two. Hired a new hardscaping/landscaping company who--at year three of the patio--power washed it, swapped a few stones and tried to remove some stains, installed a new type of polymeric sand (which is supposedly better for the larger gaps the earlier landscaper used), and sealed it. First, the power washing did leave what looked like swirls of gray "graffiti" on some areas, but that seemed to go away with sealing. Until it rained, I wasn't sure they had yet sealed it, but it was evident when water beaded up and remained on the surface. After it dried, white patches appeared all over the stones. Reading how this can also occur with sealing concrete pavers, I'm now wondering if that composite deck idea was better! All I wanted was a beautiful, natural bluestone patio. I've stepped on countless university and college walkways that do not have these issues, and that is the look I was going for. How do they achieve such beautiful patios and walkways without the issues we homeowners face? I know they don't use polymeric sand and their "deep pockets" must be able to afford the best stone and best installers....See MoreRelated Professionals
New Bedford Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · East Haven Landscape Contractors · Indianapolis Landscape Contractors · Overland Park Siding & Exteriors · Shorewood Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Lacey Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Lebanon Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Midlothian Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Pleasant Grove Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Scotts Valley Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Birmingham Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Redondo Beach Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Bell Gardens Landscape Contractors · Lynchburg Landscape Contractors · Stony Brook Landscape Contractors
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