tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post1369988293285942270..comments2024-03-28T09:42:20.558-04:00Comments on Writers Who Kill: Trees in Trouble by Gloria AldenJim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-60743558559910821202015-09-10T19:01:08.798-04:002015-09-10T19:01:08.798-04:00Kait, there's something so sad about the dying...Kait, there's something so sad about the dying off of trees. I'm so glad you still have that big Elm up in Maine. Long may it live. Maybe the Dutch Elm disease will die out since there aren't very many elms anymore.<br /><br />Carla, dogwoods are such special trees. I love their flowers in the spring. I totally agree that trees are nothing to take for granted. That's why when I have loggers putting flyers in my mailbox, or even stopping in occasionally to see if I want my woods logged, I won't let them, of course. However, my next door neighbor whose woods adjoins mine, had his logged, and the saddest thing was seeing huge beech trees not only cut down, but left because they were hollow in side so couldn't be used for lumber.<br /><br />Jim, I have no running water - streams, etc. so beavers aren't a problem, but I have seen them in other places in PA, for instance. I have spruce trees all around my house, so I hope that problem doesn't come here. I agree with you about the winters. Last winter was so<br />brutally cold, that I didn't see a lot of Japanese beetles, but it also dawned on me the other day that I haven't seen many butterflies this year, either, which makes me think the caterpillars in their cocoons were wiped out, too. Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-87838407830821856722015-09-10T17:48:21.086-04:002015-09-10T17:48:21.086-04:00The emerald ash borer is heading in our direction....The emerald ash borer is heading in our direction. They keep testing for it, but it hasn't quite crossed over from northern Wisconsin. We have problems with the spruce bud worm and it is coming back. We're also having issues with hemlocks and white birch--although the problems with white birch on my property were caused by beavers a couple years ago when they performed an unauthorized thinning.<br /><br />Around 1998-1999 we had a gypsy moth invasion. It lasted two years in peak mode and then crashed. Some of the weaker sugar and red maples on my property didn't recover from that one, but most made it through okay.<br /><br />One of the issues with some of the bug pests is that if the winters are cold enough, they can't survive and so are kept in check. However, with a few warm winters in a row, they can wipe out an entire industry.<br /><br />~ JimJim Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-45304138204232424342015-09-10T17:24:29.975-04:002015-09-10T17:24:29.975-04:00We've lost a dogwood tree that I LOVE. Jim nee...We've lost a dogwood tree that I LOVE. Jim needs to cut it down, but I will miss it's funky limbs (that hold my favorite bird feeder). Trees are NOTHING to take for granted. carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15985823239660829148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-84043203192108561222015-09-10T16:16:12.553-04:002015-09-10T16:16:12.553-04:00What an education, and how sad in part. When I fir...What an education, and how sad in part. When I first moved to Dade County (as it was then called) in Florida there were lovely stands of Dade County Pine. For those who don't know, this was the first choice of home builders from the turn of the century until the mid 1940s when two things happened, the trees became scarce (code word for expensive) and concrete and cinder block became the building material of choice. My first house was framed in DCP and the roof was tongue and groove DCP (overlaid with barrel tile of course). The attic wood was still sapping, and the house was built in 1950/1951. In the early 1980s the pines were attacked by a beetle. It wasn't too long before you could spot the DCP by their rust colored needles. And then they died. There are very few left. We have a glorious elm standing tall and proud just south of Ashland in ME. It was always a landmark for me on the Wallagrass/Bangor drive. Right now the sabal palms are undergoing a scourge in central Florida. So far, no one seems to know what is causing the deaths. Kaithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07758348842858993203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-35859210098676468962015-09-10T15:24:54.236-04:002015-09-10T15:24:54.236-04:00Nancy, I didn't mention it, but there is somet...Nancy, I didn't mention it, but there is something like you mentioned that attacks white pine's in our area in the north, too. Some of our pines manage to survive it, fortunately.<br /><br />KM, one of our favorite campgrounds is Cook Forest State Park in PA. At least it was until it became too commercialized over the years. I remember the pictures from the logging companies that cut down all the large pines in the 1800's and maybe the early 1900's. Fortunately, the forest came back, with a few really old ones still towards the top of one of the hills. They still have slices of those huge trees that were cut down - or did when the nature museum was still open. I so agree with you about cutting down the forests. I get upset when I hear that some state forests are allowing oil companies in to do fracking.<br /><br />Kara, losing the dogwood trees is sad. Such a beautiful tree it is. So far mine beside my<br />back door still looks healthy, but I'm not sure about the ones in the woods because their<br />tops are up in the canopy and hard to see.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-79419796028284219452015-09-10T12:36:58.296-04:002015-09-10T12:36:58.296-04:00My neighbor's white dogwood trees have really ...My neighbor's white dogwood trees have really suffered. It's sad to see strong and beautiful trees become so sick. The leaves are now yellow with black spots and the branches appear to droop. <br /><br />I remember your fascinating blog about the tree communication system, Gloria. Kara Cerisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16484336785514235707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-6676745630123559592015-09-10T10:27:10.976-04:002015-09-10T10:27:10.976-04:00White dogwood in the woods surrounding my house ha...White dogwood in the woods surrounding my house have suffered greatly in the last few years.<br /><br />And acres of stone fruit orchards have been destroyed in a so-far successful attempt to stop the spread of plum pox.<br /><br />Nature is cruel, destroying huge numbers of some species. And human intervention seems to be more harmful than helpful in many cases.<br /><br />I cringe when I see those old photographs of lumbering, where proud men pose with huge trees they have cut down. Hundreds of years to grow, and maybe a week to transform into dead chunks of wood, each slice big enough to fill and entire rail car. And entire countrysides stripped clear to make charcoal. What were they thinking? What are we thinking now, as we continue to destroy forests?<br /><br />KM Rockwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03973749764907859829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-54816752940451324552015-09-10T10:26:33.459-04:002015-09-10T10:26:33.459-04:00We always hear about tree diseases and pests that ...We always hear about tree diseases and pests that came from Asia here; I wonder if the process has happened in reverse at all. Down south, pine beetles are a concern; whole swaths of pine trees have had to come down because of infestations. <br /><br />Nancy E. <br />www.workingmomadventures.comNancy Eadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05627294530115653719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-51223619754240177182015-09-10T09:54:41.423-04:002015-09-10T09:54:41.423-04:00Margaret, that's so sad, isn't it. I didn&...Margaret, that's so sad, isn't it. I didn't know there was something one could inject them with. However, because I have so many in my woods, it would be impossible to treat all of them.<br /><br />Warren, if they need any more saplings, I have hundreds I could send to them. Well, probably not because I don't have the time or energy to dig them up especially since we've been without rain for over a month now so the clay soil is as hard as concrete.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-19304507486668310682015-09-10T09:11:02.311-04:002015-09-10T09:11:02.311-04:00I recently read about a town where the city govern...I recently read about a town where the city government decided to chop down mature trees before they get infected. The hope is the action will stop the spread of the infection. The city will replace the mature trees with saplings.Warren Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789270258599769915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-42156502703169115682015-09-10T07:58:37.427-04:002015-09-10T07:58:37.427-04:00Thousands of ash trees in our area have been chopp...Thousands of ash trees in our area have been chopped down. The remaining trees (I have two in my yard) have to be injected every other year to prevent the emerald ash borer.<br /><br />Margaret S. Hamiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07979191318652199350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-56224393464414373712015-09-10T07:33:33.731-04:002015-09-10T07:33:33.731-04:00Ann, I wasn't aware that the Dutch Elm disease...Ann, I wasn't aware that the Dutch Elm disease was in the UK, too. I remember your beautiful picture of bluebells in the files of our Story and Chapter site. I wished so much I could see them in person. Someday, I'll be there to visit you.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-50225984888902816042015-09-10T02:04:55.107-04:002015-09-10T02:04:55.107-04:00I remember Dutch Elm disease here in the UK when I...I remember Dutch Elm disease here in the UK when I was young, Gloria. I was reading the other day about an interesting scientific project that is trying to work out why some trees survived while over 25 million were wiped out. <br /><br />http://www.conservationfoundation.co.uk/project.php?id=2<br /><br />When I was a child my Grandmother's house was out in the country and I used to walk in the nearby woods all the time. It was especially beautiful at bluebell time. <br /><br /><br /><br />Ann Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09729843278653034798noreply@blogger.com