Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
I think the saddest tree in Winter is the pin oak. Holding onto its leaves for dear life seemingly, it is encased in a shroud of dried, dirty brown leaves until the Spring. It, like most oaks as well as beeches and hornbeams, retains its leaves because of marcescence. A simple way to describe this […]
It is late in the season to be stacking wood next to the house. We typically do it in early rather than mid Fall. But this year’s spate of warm and active days has let us delay this task. Every year we burn at least a cord and a half of wood so it is […]
Time and age make me hire help to split a felled 60-foot plus red oak tree. For nearly a year a 40-foot-long pile of logs (some of which are 30-inches plus in diameter) have been sitting in the back, drying out. It is a perfect day to work outside with just a touch of crispness […]
Japanese maples continue to be the last to lose their leaves. They stubbornly hang onto them almost as long as do oaks. All the large Japanese maples planted on our property started as seedlings on Long Island over 30 years ago. We brought them over in pots and today they surround the house. Other smaller […]
The fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) is one of my favorites natives. This slow-growing understory tree delivers a spectacular lacy flower that appears to drip off the tree. Approaching it I can’t help but be intoxicated by its sweet, honeysuckle-like scent. By its appearance, it is obvious why one of its names is old-man’s beard.
Starting to bud out, the crabapple tree (Malus) in the back still has quite a few fruits hanging from its branches. This collection of shriveled orbs, has withstood the test of Winter as well as the local bird population. It is often the last of the fruit to be cleared off my plants by the […]
The bark of some trees can only be appreciated when the forest is absent of green vegetation. For texture it is hard to beat river birch (Betula nigra) with its flaking sheets of gray, brown, salmon, peach orange or lavender bark. A close second is the American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) with its patchy white and […]
The last sugar maple (Acer saccharum) on my property is dying. It does not have the classic conical shape of a sugar maple as hard years of branch breaks and errant side growths gives it an irregular and awkward shape, prone to damage. Regardless, from its girth I suspect that it is over 100 years […]
Only the tips of the tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) have started to swell. The surrounding maples (Acer) are still asleep though are ready for sugaring. A few dead branches need pruning, though the next high wind may do that job for me.
This snow covered sugar maple (Acer saccharum) stump will be with us for a while. Though a hint of melt is seen shimmering between the wood and snow, there is no doubt that this coating will remain for quite a while. Nothing has marred the perfect dome of snow that caps the last bits of […]