Loved your article, Sharon. One of the things I am so thankful for here is all the trees that the previous owners planted... one of these days I'm going to post them on the ID forum so I know what they all are. My shade garden, which I love so much, has 5 or 6 large trees around the perimeter, and they make me happy in all seasons. I swear those trees reach out to each other (and to those of us lucky enough to get to enjoy them). If I look out my window, I cannot count all the trees, because across the street from us is a ridge covered in evergreens for as far as the eye can see. Though I loved living in Arizona, big trees are one of the things I missed there (though there are so many other natural beauties... a 40 foot saguaro cactus that was hundreds of years old was my favorite tree there!).

Here is a picture of my favorite tree on our property (and I love the two in the background as well!).

I agree, Brenda. That's what I missed the most when living in So. Cal. We back up to woods here and I couldn't be happier about that in spite of the frequent "visitors" to my yard and gardens.

I think people take trees for granted ... and that's a real shame.



This is one of my faves here ... a 40+ year old Spruce. ♥

Lynn, I remember being on a business trip to SoCal, driving down a street on my way to La Palma, and seeing Norfolk Island Pines that were taller than the houses they were planted next to. I'm not often jealous of someone else's climate, but I would love to be able to plant my Norfolk Pine in the ground instead of a pot.

My lot is somewhere between 1/2 to an acre -- the real-estate ad called it "almost an acre," but I've never found out exactly how large it is. It's odd-shaped, like a squared off pie-shape. They fenced off part of the back yard, but beyond the fence is another section of land that comprises the back side of 3 lots, and it's all trees, with a wet-weather stream running through it. Mostly sweet gums, tulip poplars and those giant pines I call telephone pole trees.

There were 2 evergreens (re-planted christmas trees) and a bradford pear when I moved in. The conifers have since succumbed to the GA heat and drought, and the pear gave up a huge limb in 2009, just missing the house, so I had it taken down. My replacement conifer didn't survive; that's the one I'm replacing next fall, in a slightly different location that might be better for it.

I collect acorns and hickory nuts from a friend's yard and toss them into the sweetgum/pine grove, hoping some of them will sprout. I have about 20 trees I want to remove (sacrilege, I know) -- sweetgums in the back yard hurt my dogs' feet, the pines are too close to the house and will hit it if they ever fall, that kind of thing. Once they're down, I'll replace them with others. And I have a whole 'nother section of yard that is currently tree-less (but replete with butterfly bushes)...it's just waiting for me to rearrange my chain link fence. Once I do, I'll plant a mixed grove on the outside of the fence.

Sharon, I was so caught up in the splendor of your smoke tree, I forgot to look for the Ash stump. Mine is just a little thing, thus far... I think this summer will mark it's 2nd year in my yard.

And I was right about Ben - he's about chin height on me right now, so maybe 4ft tall-ish. I should probably take some pictures of his winter suit, as well as his summer attire, for the database.

Brenda, how beautiful!! Lucky you to be so surrounded by those trees.

Song, what a stately tree you have there. The last time I was in California, I took a little side jaunt up to see the redwoods. Oh boy! Talk about majesty.

And me too about the Norfolk pine, Flit. Mine has grown from 6 inches to about 4 feet in the last 5 years, pot bound as it is. I wish it could grow outside year round.

When I was about 10 years old I begged for oil paints. I got a set for Christmas that year and it came with several small cardboard canvasses. You know the kind, canvas on the front covering stiff gray cardboard. I think they were 8x10. So I painted a sunset on the first one and the silhouette of a huge full tree in front of the sunset. On the second one, I painted mountains in the background and the same huge full tree in front of the mountains. On about the third one using a different background this time, maybe a lake, the same huge tree.

My parents thought I was wasting paint on that tree, painting it every single time and told me so. They told me to paint something pretty.

I remember telling them that trees were the prettiest things I saw. I still paint a lot of trees.

The Redwoods up in Nor Cal are gorgeous. So Cal is not known for its "greenery". Having said that, I love the cacti and succulents and tropicals I was able to grow there and some of the specimen trees are spectacular. There are wonderful plants for every climate, IMHO. But mostly in So Cal they paved paradise to put in a parking lot ... and a whole bunch of them at that.

My parents thought I was wasting paint on that tree, painting it every single time and told me so. They told me to paint something pretty.

I remember telling them that trees were the prettiest things I saw. I still paint a lot of trees.

I love the way you think


Here's a Texas tree for you

I love those trees that look gnarled and like they are hanging on for dear life; and I love the ones that grow from rock crevices, and grow at an angle, again like they are barely hanging on.

And then there are the old 'grandfather trees'.
They've been around even longer than I have.

LOVE it! My tree choices are based as much on bark as anything else -- that's how I wound up with the kanzaa cherries

This one might be my favorite for bark, River Birch:

Yep - the exfoliation and the clump is what drew me to river birch. It's probably the tallest of all my store-bought trees (and you should have seen me fitting it into my PT Cruiser with 5 other trees and 6 other shrubs).

My winter-time interest is my red/yellow twigged dogwoods

Mary that tree is magnificent. What kind is it?
My favorite as a child were the giant Oak trees that grew on the rolling hills.

Lynn, it's a "Texas Grandfather Tree" (aka, I have no clue, but it's obviously old).

I'm thinking maybe mesquite or something, but all I know is you'll find this particular tree somewhere on Aransas Pass NWA near the TX coast.

Sharon, we must have cross posted. Such beautiful bark on that River Birch.

It is pretty, Lynn, I love birches too.

Looking at that windy tree that Mary posted, I'm reminded of the bent tree markers the Native Americans used to leave. There aren't many of them left anymore, but sometimes you can find one and those in public places are fairly well protected.

They bent young saplings, tied them down to the ground, let them grow for a year or so, then it's thought that they came back and re-tied them making them more secure and more likely to stay that way. I always thought it was a fascinating study, and learned a bit about them when I ran across a couple of them in the mountains where I grew up. They were usually used to point direction.

This is a picture I found in images on the net, and it's in somebody's very interesting site. Here's the link:
http://community.how-to-draw-a...

And here's the image:

A GREAT article that is near and dear to my heart

We have 21 acres so I can't count the trees but there are LOTS of them A good mixture of softwoods and hardwoods although we lost quite a few pines from the pine beetle during a severe drought about 10 years ago.

I love wood. We have lots of wood in our home. We have oak doors, casing, baseboard, vanities as well as cherry cabinets and some knotty pine as well. None of which we could afford if we didn't already have the lumber, machinery, tools, or the carpenter to build them.

That said, Hank and I are huge tree advocates

For many years, we would purchase trees through our county extension office. You would get a nice selection of hardwoods and softwoods. There would be around 300 saplings all for a nominal fee.

We do not agree with clear cutting, selective cutting only. When Hank picked the oak trees for building our doors, etc., for every tree that was cut, twice as many saplings were planted.

Hank wrote an article back in the late 70's or early 80's about harvesting wood from our rain forests. I wish I could find it but I can't. He refuses to build anything for anyone with wood from rain forests. I seem to remember there is also lots of things in the rain forest that is used in medicine as well.

I have had the honor and privilege of seeing a standing oak go from the forest, to the sawmill, to our shop where it is "sticked", ends painted to prevent checking, dried, planed, shaped, moulded, built, stained, finished, and installed.

I have a huge respect for trees for all that they give us.

In our woods, it's fun to see all the shapes like you all have posted above. There is one that is a stand of 3 poplars all together and Hank named them the three sisters. They are huge and seems like they reach all the way to heaven.

When we were building this home, the telephone folks backed a huge truck into a pine tree so that it leaned terribly. Hank took the bobcat bucket as high as he could and climbed up and put a log chain around it and pulled it straight, fastening it to another tree. We left it like that for about 3 years and now it's perfectly straight. Over the course of those 3 years, people would ask why were we trying to save a dumb tree. What???

We have this in a framed print. My sister gave it to Hank as a gift for all the wood "stuff" he does.

Prayer of the Woods

I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun, and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on.

I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat.

I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.

I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty. 'Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer: Harm me not.

(This prayer has been used in the Portuguese forest preservations for more than 1,000 years.)

Thank God for trees

Vic, Oh Vic,

That is so beautiful. All of it. Everything you wrote.
Touched my heart and tears.

What you said is exactly how I feel about trees.
Makes me humble.
Thank you.

You're welcome - I could talk about wood forever

The trees that Hank chose for our doors, cabinets, etc., were FAS rejects. The federal government requires all furniture manufacturers to use FAS lumber. FAS means FIRST AND SECOND. First and second means there are only so many knots per board foot. So we had more knots than perfect but it is still beautiful and he's good enough at his craft, most of the knots get cut out anyway.

After the tree is cut, it is taken to the saw mill which cuts it into four-quarter, six-quarter, eight-quarter and so on. Whatever you request.

He built a kiln to dry the lumber most of which was 20 feet long. The lumber at this point is "in the rough", very ugly and sopping wet.

First you have to paint the ends of the boards because as it dries, the moisture leaves the ends, not the sides. Painting the ends helps prevent checking which are cracks that happen as the wood dries. The wood has to be dried to 7% moisture for cabinet/furniture making.

As you load the wood into the kiln, you stick it. That means you have (in our case) 1x4's between each row so the lumber can breathe. It also helps for stability.

To check for moisture, you use a tool that looks similar to a meat thermometer. You stick it in the wood and it gives you the moisture content.

Once it's dried, it is first planed. My favorite woods to plane are poplar and cherry. When cherry comes through the planer, it smells like cherry blossoms. The fragrance is wonderful. Poplar is fun because the grain is sometimes purple. It definitely has it's own personality.

We started planing way back in the late 70's before OSHA, before ear protection and we are both very hearing impaired because of it. The planer is a huge and loud piece of machinery. We now wear ear protection and masks when we plane. If I had a penny for every piece of sawdust we've planed, I'd be a trillionaire.

Once it's planed for thickness, it's ready to be straightened and that is done with a radial arm saw.

From there sometimes the joiner if there is cupping.

From there the overarm router shaper or the shaper makes it into beautiful mouldings, doors, etc.

Then it's ready to stain and finish.

We've always treated it with respect. I never take for granted the beauty of what comes through the planer.

We've seen bullets where guns were shot through the trees many years before and sometimes even a nail which is bad. Bullets are ok because they are soft and won't damage the knives on the planer but a nail is very bad news. All the knives have to be re-sharpened if we hit a nail.

It takes 3 honking motors to run the planer which gives you an idea of it's power. It takes a piece of lumber that is all in the rough with marks all over it from the sawmill and turns it into a smooth and beautiful piece of wood.

See, I told you I could talk about trees and wood forever

I agree, what you wrote there Vic is beautiful. My Dad is a retired carpenter, so I grew up with woodworking and great respect for trees as well. I'd like to borrow that prayer and make something with it to put in my shade garden. Would that be okay?

I cut and pasted it off the internet Brenda. It was easier than taking it off the wall and keying it in - Go for it!