Wood for my next boat!

[Hughman]

I'm going to let all this mature for about a hundred years, then I'll build a gaffer for my old age!



Quercus Alba

[Bob Smalser]

I've done thousands over the past few years....W.R. Cedar, Garry (Oregon White) Oak mostly....looking for some Black locust to try.

I just know there'll be a descendant who grins at my memory one day.

[Art Read]

Good on yer!

[NormMessinger]

Doc Jagles (sp.) had an article recently extoling the virtues of the Dawn RedWood, Metasequoia.

[Mike DeHart]

Excellent. Plant a tree. Better yet, help a kid plant a tree. When you are long gone and the kid is old he will go back to look at the big tree and tell some kid, “I planted that.”

I have tried for a few years now to grow seedlings from a ~600 year old white oak with significant local history.* The first batch of acorns were dug out of the pots by squirrels. The second batch were kept indoors where about 6 out of 24 sprouted, but most died due to dry winter air and forgetting to water them for a couple days. The two survivors were transplanted outdoors that spring. Squirrels dug up one and ate it. The other I armored by putting a couple of cement chimney blocks around it. It seems a rabbit found the protected place to be a nice place to sit and chewed the tree off flush so it would not be jabbing him in the ribs. The third batch were kept indoors and watered. I potted them earlier than before, late September as they were falling from the tree, and had about 20 sprout. [img]smile.gif[/img] By the time it was warm enough to transplant them, most had died from being root bound in small pots too long. The one survivor is in the back yard now, growing, with the chimney block armor and a rat wire cage completely covering that. It may survive yet.

Out of desperation I planted six beans from a black locust seed pod and I swear nine saplings grew! I planted the best and gave away the rest. In one summer that tree grew knee high, and totally unprotected at that.

*The Salem Oak Tree in Salem, New Jersey, is historically recognized as the tree under which John Fenwick, a Quaker seeking religous freedom, signed a treaty with the local Lenni-Lanape tribe for peaceful purchase of the land where the city of Salem was later founded in 1675. (This is not the Salem of witch burning fame.)

[Popeye]

hey doobie, it takes only one growing season to get enough for some hemp rope.

yes, i said rope.

[Donn]

I just finished shelling black locust pods...have several dozen nice fat seeds. I'm going to winter sow them in containers, then transplant them into a hedge next spring.I'll keep all but a few at 6', and let that few go on to become trees.

[cs]

I found the best way to grow a tree from a seedling is to put a gutter underneath it and don't clean it out. Don't ask me how I know this.

Chad

[DougC]

"You plant poplar trees for yourself; apple trees for your children; olive trees for your grandchildren."
-Greek proverb (or something)

[Wild Wassa]

Hughman, A class act.

Warren.

ps, Plant one in the head of dead snake. The spirit of the snake is then in the timber, for the mast, ... or was it the hull?. An old Indian (Sub-Continent) tip of the trade.

pps, Don't use a Rattle Snake. Noisy rigging.

[ 10-02-2003, 04:46 AM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[edsr]

I have had some success with Red Oak acorns which I gathered from a beautiful, large tree growing right in downtown Portland. Of the 12 planted 8 still survive, several have now reached a height of about 20". They are about two years old. Some fertilizer and organic mulch seems to work well.

I have been eyeing my neighbor's grove of Oregon White Oaks for some time and hope to strole through and snatch-up some starts.

Imagine your grandson's grandson building a boat from trees you planted. Think Ahead!

edsr

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Admiral Collingwood, Nelson's second in command at Trafalgar, always set out on a walk, after he retired, with a pocketful of acorns - he was concerned that the Royal Navy would be running out of timber about now.

We have some splendid hedgerow oaks...

[cs]

Back to my tree in the gutter. So should I be able to transplant this seedling from the gutter to the ground without any problems? What is the best technique for doing this?

Chad

[Donn]

Chad...how old is it, and what kind of tree? If it's been growing there a few years. it'll have a root system that runs off in both directions, for some ways. You'll have to make the planting hole much wider than the root system, mound up some soil in the middle of the hole, and spread the root system down and out around the mound. Then backfill with pretty rich soil. Remember that the tree is used to extremely rich gutter-soil.

[cs]

Its not that big Donn. Its been there less than a year. Sorry to say its been about a year since I cleaned the gutters. It should be Red Oak since that is what is above it, but the leaves don't look like Red Oak. Is this a good time to transplant?

Chad

[Donn]

Now should be fine. Take a bunch of the stuff in the gutter to mix with the soil that you backfill with. If you have a particularly cold winter, pile some leaves or straw up around it for protection.

[Mrleft8]

Planting White Oak seedlings on purpose! I pull the damn things like weeds. Anyone who wants Quercus Alba, or Quercus Borealis saplings is welcomed to dig up as many as they want here! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Johannah]

Mr.Left, we have the same "problem" with Black Walnut which grows as a pesky weed at our summer place on the Eastern Shore, and even here in Philly. 6 or 7 years ago, we (the neighbours) took down a really funky Juglans nigra growing in the narrow alley between 2 houses, growing right out of the cracks between the foundation stones. A decade or 2 more and it would have ripped the foundation apart. Produced some lovely chunks including one with an enormous bole of reaction wood for a local sculptor.

Norm, the Dawn Redwood is an awesome tree with wood of the quality of the other redwoods. It has the prettiest fancy name, Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Howzat? We have planted about 8 or 9 as street trees here and they're doing very well, but they'll be way too big for their tree pits before they turn 50. Anyone young enough should make a note to come and make an offer for them in about 40 years. I do worry about planting non-natives when there is no history to say whether they will become invasive or not. Bald Cypress look almost identical and are very easy to grow if your climate is right. We can grow almost anything here because this is a border region between climate and geological zones.

Well done to all who plant trees! If you like the unusual stuff, I have some baby Yellowwoods (Cladrastis kentuckea) out on the back porch which are the offspring of the oldest living specimen.

If you want really old and hard Osage Orange, there are some 200 year old ones out back of one of the oldest churches in Old City. Make them an offer?

Tree Challenge: one important boat wood that is much reduced in the wild is Hakmatak, the American Larch. The local tree nuts here have gotten one started in a sheltered spot of lawn next to a subway tunnel. How about trying some wherever you are? Our next dream tree is Cedar of Lebanon. Now to find another obscure spot.

[ 10-04-2003, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: Johannah ]