AND THEN THERE WERE MAPLES

Many of the beeches on my tree farm are infected with disease (cyrptococcus fagisuga /neonectria spp) and it appears to me to be as bad as it sounds.  Blemishes, warts, pimples and white spots that look like a fungus are easily spotted on the bark of the tree.  At first, I would wait until these symptoms appeared and then would harvest the tree for firewood for my use and my many friends who also burned wood.  Then the situation got worse as the beeches would seed themselves in clearings and on my woods roads.  As they grew at what seemed like a rapid pace the branches would extend as if they were searching for sunlight as a way of healing themselves.  Anyone who has been slapped on the face by a beech whip on a cold winter day while walking or skiing in the woods will realize my grave concern about my woods being taken over by this problem.

My research showed the problem could be solved three ways – chemical, biological or mechanical.  Being a fan of the physical, of course, I chose cutting the whips with a chainsaw.  It amazes me how much area one man can clear in a few hours.  The sight of healthy maples and ash made my project very worthwhile.  At first, I was concerned that new growth from the stump would grow again and I might need to use an herbicide like glyphosate to control any new growth on the stumps.   But to my amazement the deer have kept the new growth completely at bay and we have a win - win situation.

Time to Know Vermont's Trees

“Do not be afraid to go out on a limb….That’s where the fruit is”

One of my favorite stories involving my son Jake happened when he was in the eighth grade.  His teacher decided it was time for a test on Vermont trees and to see if any of the students had any knowledge of the forests that surrounded them.  As he handed out the test the teacher explained that there were pictures of twenty trees and their leaves that he would like identified to the best of the student’s ability.

Almost before the groans had stopped Jake had turned the test in.  To the teacher’s surprise Jake had identified all of them 100% correctly.  Now here was a student that usually was not the star of the class who had magicly answered all the questions correctly in a very short time.   While the teacher did not accuse Jake of cheating, he started a discussion to determine how this miracle had happened.  Jake told him that anyone who had spent as many hours in the woods as he had following his father who would point his axe at a tree and ask “what kind of tree is this” could have passed the test also.

Although that was one way to learn about trees you might consider one of the following publications to learn about Vermont’s trees.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast” by writer Mark Mikolas and published by Countryman Press in October of 2017 includes just 12 deciduous and 8 conifer species that represent almost 95 percent of the trees in the northeast.  So, it shouldn’t take that long to become an expert.

A more comprehensive book by www.ForestryPress.com is the #1 selling guidebook to Vermont’s 82 native forest trees, written for ages 10 through adult and is printed in full color with species data about: Bark, Twigs, Leaves, Fall Colors, Flowers and Buds.

There are many sources of information about our wonderful Vermont trees and I certainly hope you decide to get started soon.