After our timber sale it is interesting to see the stumps and which trees had rot and which trees were solid. The above stump was a large Bur Oak located low on a hillside. It was really growing out to the south toward sunshine and would fail at sometime in the future because of that…
Category: Trees
Tree Tube Spring Cleaning
Over the past 10 – 15 years I have used tree tubes to protect and assist young trees. I could go into a lot of history and scientific claims which various tree tube manufacturers have about the benefits of their tubes. But after all these years with both success and failure I have come to…
Timber Harvest
Our timber was cut in late December of 2019. We wanted to limit the possible damage to our land. The big log skidder and dragging logs can cause ruts. So the ground needs to freeze pretty deep – maybe 5 inches down. Also if there is too much snow the skidder can’t get around. So…
Tree Sale Decision
In the fall of 2019 I worked with a private forester and decided to do a timber sale. With Brad the forester we walked all 30 acres and we agreed that a thinning of the forest was needed. The above picture was taken in the fall when leaves had been dropping. You can still see…
New Life for Chinkapin
Last year I posted on a “Lack of Courage” about a Chinkapin Oak. I cut the tree down to about 3 inches last fall and hoped for the best. This spring to prevent deer browse I put two tree protectors around the tree. Now in Mid-July there is a lot of new growth. Some of…
Baby Bettlereiche
Bettlereiche was the very large and old oak that I visited in Switzerland in May 2019. Somehow a few acorns from that tree jumped in my luggage and found their way back to Minnesota. In late May I planted them in seed starter soil and kept them watered outside. And surprisingly they have grown. I…
Winching Trees
So we had a big flood that flattened a bunch of trees. I have fixed the smaller under 6 foot trees by putting them in new tree tubes and a new PVC stake. Some of those trees have leaves coated in mud and are still waterlogged. I hope that the tree tubes will provide an…
Flood of June 2019
Many of the trees I have been planting over the years have been in a clearing on flood plain land by the Zumbro River. Other trees have been planted in a clearing on a high ridge above the Zumbro River. Overnight on Thursday June 27th we had around 7 inches of rain. With the river…
Tree Hunters Part III
What are the biggest trees in the world? By biggest I mean tree volume not height. The Giant Sequoia in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California have generally been considered the biggest. But have all the giant trees been found? My previous posts on Tree Hunters focused on Europe and Eastern United States tree hunters. …
The Butternut
I was reading the June/July 2019 Minnesota Forestry Association Woodlands bulletin. There was an article on “The Endangered Trees of Minnesota”. Two species – Butternut and Eastern Hemlock are considered endangered, meaning that they are vulnerable to extinction. Per the article Butternut is a medium to large hardwood tree with pinnately compound leaves and thick,…
GothicTrees 