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Re: TH: Advice Please
Post-To: Tree-House@Majordomo.Flora.Com (Community Forestry) ----------
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On Thu, 22 May 1997, Shaub Dunkley wrote: -----------------------------
> ... I ask them do they have
> seedling coming up in places they would like trees and they say "yes, but
> aren't those weed trees?" or "yes, but I want a big tree, a real tree, a
> pretty tree, etc." sigh!
>
> Time and time again I have compared self sowed native seedlings growth with
> that of same species trees we have planted, say the typical 2-3" caliper
> size. The self sowed tree generally passes the planted tree in size by the
> fourth to fifth year and then continues to outgrow the still reestablishing
> transplant. Certain species, like dogwood and redbud, establish easily and
> grow quickly from direct sowed seed, yet pout for years if transplanted at a
> larger size ...
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Thank you for your stimulating thoughts, Shaub. Gary and I transplanted
a 30-foot-tall American Beech several years back, from a suburban build-
ing site into Baltimore's inner-city (hey, we were young and ambitious
-- the city foresters were amazed, and drove Yale University tour-buses
past it). We named her 'Myrtle Beech.' Myrtle is still alive and will
probably do fine, but in the interim 6 or so years, other trees we trans-
planted from nurseries are today taller and fuller. It's been a lesson.
Gardeners secretly know that 'volunteers' (plants that show up on their
own, uninvited) may actually be superior in many ways to the store-bought
varieties. (I'm trying to reconcile here which would be properly termed
the 'garden variety,' and which not.) One town's weed tree ...
We have run postings on Tree-House indicating that trees grown from seed
will remain distinct from transplants or cuttings -- for the rest of
their life. I have never been quite able to grasp what the reasoning is.
Richard@Flora.Com
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Quote of the Month:
There is a social psychology going on here
that we need to get a handle on in order to
make progress in urban forest stewardship.
(Funny, but this also relates to the questions
being raised by the recent postings on pesticide
use, man made order versus natural) ...
S. Dunkley 1997
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