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Forest Ecology Photo Blog

basswood | Posted in Photo Gallery on November 6, 2006 05:02am

Went for a walk in the woods today and snapped a few photos of fall in the North Woods. I thought I could share a few images and some ramblings about the origins of the forest products many of us use in home building.

First a few shots of what else, some Basswood trees. These trees provide wood favored for millwork and wood carving. They tend to grow on north facing slopes in the company of Sugar Maples. When they are harvested, new trees sprout up in a ring surrounding the old trunk (my kids like playing in the little hideaways between the trunks). This sprouting means the tree basically produces clones.

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  1. User avater
    basswood | Nov 06, 2006 05:24am | #1

    The Maple-Basswood forests common in the Upper Midwest like moist conditions and fairly good soil. I mentioned these tree species are found mostly on north facing slopes (as that side of the hills get less direct sun=higher moisture in the soil).

    Forest fires are less frequent and less intense due to the higher moisture on these sites. This is a good thing for the Maples and Basswoods: they are thin skinned (no fire protection from heavy bark) and as shade lovers, they do not lose lower branches due to the shade of their own upper branches. Low branches can lead to fire spread to the tree crowns--this is generally bad for said tree.

    Compare the bark of the Maples with that of the Oak in these pictures. You can also see a difference in proximity of branches to the ground.



    Edited 11/5/2006 10:50 pm ET by basswood

    1. User avater
      basswood | Nov 06, 2006 06:00am | #2

      Fire, while tough on some trees, is essential to others. Oak and Pines love sun. Mature forests are shady places and many tree species ironically can't reproduce in the conditions that they create themselves. Forest fires (or harvesting) create openings in the forest that allow enough light for trees like Pines and Oaks to thrive.Here is a picture of a White Pine (Riverman mentioned in another thread vast stands of these trees were logged into oblivion). This tree is "open-grown" and as a result has branches almost to the ground. If surrounded and shaded by other trees in a forest, it would have lost all the lower branches and would produce much clearer lumber. This tree would provide very knotty wood.

      Edited 11/5/2006 10:52 pm ET by basswood

      1. User avater
        basswood | Nov 06, 2006 06:03am | #3

        Here is the white pine:Edit to add my daughter is 5' tall...that tree is a monster.

        Edited 11/5/2006 10:07 pm ET by basswood

        1. User avater
          basswood | Nov 06, 2006 06:24am | #4

          You have likely heard of pines with serotinous cones, (mentioned in another thread recently by Splintergroupie). Those trees are virtually required to burn before their cones will release seeds. Oaks don't require fire, but are helped by it. Oaks need plenty of light to grow. Fires can really open things up for new trees, while the old, heavy-barked, oaks survive to drop acorns into the sunny soil.Here is a photo of an Oak with a fire scar called a "cat-face". If you cut this tree down, the cross-section would look like it has "ears" where the tree has grown lobes of new wood and bark as the tree heals the scar...looks kinda like a cat.

          Edited 11/5/2006 10:26 pm ET by basswood

          1. User avater
            basswood | Nov 06, 2006 07:02am | #5

            Here is a view of the countryside these trees are found in (Mississippi River bluffs of SE MN). The bald area near the top of the bluff is facing south. These areas are so sunny and well drained, that trees can't grow...these small, steep areas are called "goat prairies". Grasslands only accessible to goats.The forest facing south is a mix of White Oak, Burr Oak, and Red Oak. You can see a few Birch trees too.

          2. kate | Nov 08, 2006 05:50pm | #43

            Yhanks so much for starting this thread!  I grew up in the forests of Massachusetts - what's left - & love seeing some of the rest.

          3. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 03:38am | #49

            Kate,Glad you like the thread. Here is another tree for you. It is a deciduous conifer (a rare item as most conifers are evergreen). It is a Tamarack and its' needles turn gold each Autumn and fall off. It lives in swampy land. Tannins from these trees color the water of some northern rivers and lakes so much that it looks like tea...no kidding.

          4. splintergroupie | Nov 09, 2006 05:00am | #53

            Our Larix occidentalis grows in a little drier climate than your Larix laricina. From my kitchen window, i see a swath of gold through the green about mid-slope on the eastern aspect of the Bitterrroot Range. Spruce owns the swamps.

          5. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 05:18am | #56

            Our Tamarack (Eastern Larch) are tiny little trees compared to your Western Larch. I have a picture somewhere of a Montana Larch that had a huge flared base six feet across and a three pronged, forked top. It looked like a giant fork...really cool. You have probably seen some like it.Here the Larch share the swamps with the Black Spruce. Even the spruce here are midgets relative to the Engelmann spruce you have.

          6. JasonQ | Nov 26, 2006 12:24am | #72

            I also gather that Tamarack is quite rot-resistant, and tough.  Shame it's basically impossible to get round here...I'd love to build my new deck out of it...

            Dawn Redwood (metasequoia glyptostroboides) and bald cypress (taxodium distichium) are two other deciduous conifers.  Nature's pretty damned cool.

            Jason

          7. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 12:35am | #73

            Jason,I just lifted this info on the Tamarack from Wikipedia...pretty interesting:The wood is tough and durable, but also flexible in thin strips, and was used by the Algonquian people for making snowshoes and other products where toughness was required.
            It is also grown as an ornamental tree in gardens in cold regions, and is a favorite tree for bonsai.According to 'Aboriginal Plant Use in Canada's Northwest Boreal Forest', the inner bark has also been used as a poultice to treat cuts, infected wounds, frostbite, boils and hemorrhoids. The outer bark and roots are also said to have been used with another plant as a treatment for arthritis, cold and general aches and pains.Tamarack is the Territorial tree of Northwest Territories. It is mentioned in the Ernest Hemingway short story 'The Battler' from In Our Time. It also is the name of a tennis and soccer camp in the White Mountains of New Hampshire run by skier Bode Miller's family, and the four-season Tamarack Resort and ski area in central Idaho.

          8. stevent1 | Nov 06, 2006 07:07am | #6

            At our old house we had a Cedar of Lebanon that had exploding cones. Basswood is favored by duck decoy carvers, On the Maryland Eastern shore, folks make a living selling decoys.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood

          9. User avater
            basswood | Nov 06, 2006 07:14am | #7

            There is a carousel nearby with fantastic creatures carved of basswood...check this out:http://www.larktoys.com/carousel_dragon.html

          10. stevent1 | Nov 06, 2006 04:12pm | #10

            Basswood,Those carvings are neat. If you are ever in Naples FL check out the Ringling Brothers Circus museam. Part of the tour is a woodworking shop where they repair and fabricate carvings and other props such as circus wagons used by the circus.
            Just east of Naples is " Big Cyprus National Preserve" You can drive through the eveglades on Tamiami Trail. Its goes through indian villages with grass thatched roofs, and window shakers.Chuck S
            live, work, build, ...better with wood

          11. User avater
            basswood | Nov 06, 2006 04:20pm | #11

            The circus wook carving sounds interesting, as do the Cypress. I once canoed the Black River in NC, meandering among the Bald Cypress (the oldest trees east of the Mississippi I was told). That was amazing, over 1000 years old (spared by living in a swamp).

          12. User avater
            BossHog | Nov 06, 2006 05:16pm | #12

            I love big trees, and will definitely follow this as you post more pictures.Great looking kid, BTW. But who's that ugly guy sitting in the hole in that tree ???(-:
            Bumpersticker: Honk if you do everything you're told

          13. User avater
            basswood | Nov 07, 2006 03:05am | #15

            --"I love big trees"Me too...I'll post more later this week (we are having great weather so I'll get out there as much as I can).Allie is a great hiking companion...the dude in the tree is just a gnome. ; )

          14. bruce22 | Nov 07, 2006 03:29am | #17

            Thanks for the pictures, it's great to see other parts of this big country.

          15. JohnT8 | Nov 08, 2006 10:30pm | #48

            the dude in the tree is just a gnome

            dryad.  jt8

            "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

          16. harrisdog43 | Nov 06, 2006 07:50pm | #14

            Glad to see you took your daughter along...treasure these moments. Trust me, they really pass too quickly. My daughter turned 40 this year, and I still am thinking of her 10th birthday party that I missed trying to do something so unimportant that I cannot remember...but just typing this brings a flood of emotions.

            The good news is she returned from ten years in Europe last May and lives within 3 miles of me now.

            john

          17. User avater
            basswood | Nov 07, 2006 03:13am | #16

            Touching story. I will try to keep your admonition in mind. Glad you have her back nearby.We have a bunch of fun together...it will be a challenge to keep up with her. She is into hiking, of course, but also skateboarding and snowboarding too--and wants me to go with her. I can't even touch my toes and you should see the stuff I'm spozed ta do with her! LOL

          18. User avater
            zak | Nov 06, 2006 08:42am | #8

            This is great.  It's nice to see new forest- I've spent a lot of time in NW forests, all conifers (except for the occasional big-leaf maple), but almost none in any forests east of the rockies.  Really interesting seeing where some of my favorite woods come from- birch, maple, etc.

            Those stands that you were walking around in, with the open forest floors- were those first growth, or were they just logged quite a while back?zak

            "When we build, let us think that we build forever.  Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin

            "so it goes"

             

          19. User avater
            basswood | Nov 06, 2006 04:10pm | #9

            Zak,I'm glad you like seeing the hardwood forest pics. I spent most of my life in the Rockies...so living in this decidous forest is a kick. This is "Big Woods" country (as in "Little House in the Big Woods" by Wilder).There are very few "old growth" stands remaining here. There is a stand of huge white oaks near hear that got their start before Columbus sailed. It is a miracle that those oaks were spared the axe. They are clear veneer quality trees (large, straight, very tall, with branches only at the top). I will see about taking some pics of those trees to post. The woods where we were hiking yesterday are surrounded by homes so fire has been excluded for decades. The oaks are in decline and are now being upstaged by the maple and basswood. This park would benefit from logging. Now the understory below the large oak canopy is 80% sugar maple (even on south facing slopes).I like maples as much as the next guy...but they should stay in their own neighborhood...they are over-running the place.

      2. Stuart | Nov 06, 2006 07:02pm | #13

        Great pictures.  I grew up in that part of the state so they remind me of home.  SE Minnesota has some real beautiful country.

  2. Carole4 | Nov 07, 2006 04:00am | #18

    Well, I just had my love of big trees rejuvinated.....Those are beautiful trees.....We always had a white pine for our Christmas tree......

    1. User avater
      basswood | Nov 07, 2006 06:57am | #19

      I remember some big trees on Mt. Lemon and Mt. Graham from my youth in AZ. Though they are not trees, I was thrilled by Saguaro cacti and many other desert plants. A cactus larger than many trees is quite a sight. I do really like the White Pines we have here too. I just planted one in my yard this past summer.

      1. splintergroupie | Nov 07, 2006 10:04am | #20

        Nice! Here was an oddly shaped tree across the street from Canterbury Cathedral in England. I snapped it bec i had no idea how it formed such a trunk. Any notions?

        1. User avater
          basswood | Nov 07, 2006 04:26pm | #22

          That is an amusing specimen! It appears that the trunk is far older than the branches...perhaps it had its' old top blown out during WWII by the Luftwaffe.I bet those branches sprouted out of the centuries old trunk 75 years ago. Even if that tree had its' original branches--that is a funky trunk. I bet it is some burley wood.In that location, the trunk could have been used to hang banners, signs, and posters; tie up horses, etc. for hundreds of years. Perhaps insults like that have added some of the character. Nature sure is resilient.

          Edited 11/7/2006 8:30 am ET by basswood

          1. blue_eyed_devil | Nov 07, 2006 04:56pm | #24

            I love your pics and love this thread Basswood. As soon as I get a camera, I'll start posting some tree pics too.

            blue 

          2. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 02:03am | #29

            Blue,Sounds good...I look forward to seeing your pictures.Basswood

        2. user-54383 | Nov 07, 2006 05:00pm | #26

          Looks like it has been "pollarded"http://www.maryrose.org/lcity/woodwork/woods-and-forests2.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding

          1. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 02:18am | #30

            Eric,Cool...that is something I never heard of before. Thanks for posting that. I alway learn something interesting here. BTW I spent most of my life in Colorodo. Graduated from CSU in 1990 (BS in Forestry).

          2. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 05:50am | #32

            Eric, that's exactly it. I'd heard the term, but mistakenly assumed it meant when bad tree trimmers just lop the tree off at the top, up higher. I knew about coppicing from "chair bodging", the practice of going to the woods to make chairs out of wood instead of hauling the wood to the chair factory, but thanks for setting me straight on the pollarding term. I looked at the location of the Epping forest - not far from Canterbury near the east coast. So maybe it was a regional practice, bec i never saw it elsewhere as i traveled to the west coast across the southern part of England.

          3. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 06:02am | #33

            PS: I looked at the home page for the Mary Rose, from your first link. I visited the site where they are stabilizing the wood from that ship, sunk in Henry VIII's time, and half-preserved in the mud in the harbor. They have it on display in an enormous tank with glass the length of the ship, where the water in the wood cells is being stabilized by spraying it with polyethylene glycol, IIRC. The process will take years. Very nice museum in Portsmouth, if anyone ever gets there.The HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's ship that won the battle of Trafalgar is also an excellent tour. The level of craftsmanship both in the hewn joinery and the decorative woodwork was awe-inspiring when you consider how they worked. I do believe they used the same instruments in the chirgurie (surgery) - yikes! The guide said most of the damage was from wood driven into people when the cannonball struck the ship, not from the ball itself.

        3. dedubya | Nov 07, 2006 06:02pm | #27

          I have seen trees like that on an old English estate

          that my great aunts worked at  in" Raunds,"plus the

          old norman churches around  were I was born ,

          "Stanwick " the graveyards anyway had some trees like

          that," pollarding" always wanted to know what that was called.

          1. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 06:21am | #35

            I just looked up "Raunds" to find it's the home of the army boot, so...taunt on...

            Your great aunt wears army boots!<!---->

        4. kate | Nov 08, 2006 05:58pm | #44

          That looks as though it might be a coppiced beech - if you cut off the leader, a group of new trunks grow up around the scat.  The Europeans have been managing theur trees intensively for centuries, & coppicing gives a fast, teeady supply of straight saplings for fences, etc.

          Look for a whatzit thread about a billhook...

          Edited to add:  Of course, I meant pollarded, not coppiced...just a moment of Piffin's brain fog...

          Edited 11/8/2006 4:30 pm ET by kate

          1. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 09:25pm | #46

            Coppicing is cutting off closer to the ground. The links called it pollarding and said it was used where livestock were, so they wouldn't be able to reach the new shoots to gobble. The tree was located in the middle of town, but the town wall it faced was made up partly of Roman ruins...wonderful to stand there, looking at living and dead remnants of humanity's passing through.

        5. User avater
          Gene_Davis | Nov 26, 2006 05:56pm | #90

          Looks as if it has been pollarded.  I think I got the term right.

          In the middle ages in Europe, long after most of the forests had been cut down, firewood was gotten in groves of trees by whacking off the limbs and letting the stump and root system generate new firewood by growing new sprouts from the whacked off part.  Apparently the method produced more wood than whacking clear to the ground.

          1. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 08:59pm | #91

            No doubt it's the lone survivor of a grove of similar trees, left as a specimen perhaps. There was no plaque to explain it, and no other trees like it in that urban area, which was 'outside' the stone wall the Romans had constructed to protect the original settlement.

      2. Carole4 | Nov 07, 2006 04:06pm | #21

        We live close to the Catalinas and go up on Mt. Lemmon often....There was a devastating fire a few years ago and you can still see the remnants....We get our tree fix there and Flagstaff!Those cacti that are sometimes 150 years old and older are a sight to see....When we go to the Desert Museum, it's like seeing people standing....The Indians here believe they are the spirits of their ancestors.....Impressive...

        1. User avater
          basswood | Nov 07, 2006 04:29pm | #23

          Carole,Have you seen the saguaro with the fan-shaped top? Maybe at the Sonoran Desert Zoo?

          1. Carole4 | Nov 07, 2006 04:58pm | #25

            Yes, several of them.....There is a cactus nursery around the corner from us, Bach's, and they have one or two....Unusual!I'm not sure about the Sonoran Museum, there is so much there.....

          2. User avater
            johnnyd | Nov 07, 2006 07:54pm | #28

            We live in the same "neighborhood".

            This is one of me looking up at a pretty nice maple this fall.

            Actually that's a whte oak, but maples dominate in that area.

            Edited 11/7/2006 11:56 am ET by johnnyd

          3. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 02:30am | #31

            Johnny,Howdy neighbor, nice picture...I knew the Maples were taking over...Run away, Run away!Basswood ; )

          4. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 06:15am | #34

            A maple-hater? Why, i orta flame ya....;^)

          5. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 06:22am | #36

            "There is trouble in the forest
            And the creatures all have fled
            As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
            And the oaks just shake their headsSo the maples formed a union
            And demanded equal rights
            'The oaks are just too greedy
            We will make them give us light'
            Now there's no more oak oppression
            For they passed a noble law
            And the trees are all kept equal
            By hatchet, axe and saw"

          6. User avater
            zak | Nov 08, 2006 06:50am | #37

            If you're feeling overwhelmed with the maple, don't hesitate to send some out to me.  6/4, quartersawn sugar maple, preferably.  But I'm not picky.zak

            "When we build, let us think that we build forever.  Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin

            "so it goes"

             

          7. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 07:24am | #38

            Our fair Dominion now extends

            From Cape Race to Nootka Sound

            May peace forever be our lot

            And plenty a store abound

            And may those ties of love be ours

            Which discord cannot sever

            And flourish green for freedom's home

            The Maple Leaf Forever

            I'm picky. I want all the fiddleback and birdseye.

          8. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 07:36am | #39

            Check the "what did you do today?" thread, just for grins : )

          9. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 07:39am | #40

            The floor in my parlor is birdseye...seems strange walking on it.

          10. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 08:29am | #41

            The only thing i would allow on a birdseye floor is...well...not walking.

          11. User avater
            basswood | Nov 08, 2006 04:03pm | #42

            Oh, you must be one of them people that serve up them fancy meals, right there on the floor. Saves money on furniture I guess. ; )

          12. splintergroupie | Nov 08, 2006 09:21pm | #45

            Yes, exactly like eating Chinese...half-hour later and you're hungry again.

          13. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 04:14am | #50

            Splintergroupie & ALLHere is a burley tree for you. I'm sure you have seen some amazing stuff made from trees like this one (bowls, furniture, etc.).Burls are essentially benign tumors (composed of bud tissue that just makes more and more buds that fail to differentiate into branches). It is not clear why some trees just go burley.It looks like a mess, but could be a valuable tree with beautiful wood.

          14. splintergroupie | Nov 09, 2006 05:21am | #57

            The only good tree is a...bowl? When i lived in California's Central Valley in the late 70s, mature fruit and nut groves were being windrowed and burned so subdivisions could sprout with streets signs proclaiming the names of the trees they displaced. I had a connnection into the groves, so with an Alaskan mini-mill on a 48" bar, we got a lot of great wood, especially the English/Claro walnut grafts. The wood looks like this:

          15. stevent1 | Nov 09, 2006 05:45am | #60

            I used to make jewelery boxes from walnut crotchwood. Used to do craft fairs when they wer $10.00 a table. Used to... oh well!

             

            Chuck S.live, work, build, ...better with wood

          16. splintergroupie | Nov 09, 2006 05:51am | #61

            Ah, the $10/table days...when a good weekend was $800! Best weekend show i ever had was $7000, but the fee was 20%....ow.

          17. kate | Nov 27, 2006 12:22am | #92

            That's some pretty wood!

          18. JohnT8 | Nov 08, 2006 10:27pm | #47

            I knew the Maples were taking over

            Too close to Canada ;)

             jt8

            "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

          19. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 04:40am | #51

            --"I knew the Maples were taking overToo close to Canada ;)"John,Dern Canucks...I've been having some fun kidding around about the Maple Conspiracy...but here is another picture to make my point. It shows a mossy Oak in the prone position, this is the fate of the large Oaks in the background--surrounded by those Maples, just waiting for the Oaks to die. No Oaks in the understory...a good fire or some logging...and the Oaks will be back.Oaks = wildlife. Acorns feed deer, wild turkeys, etc.Most of the big trees in my yard are Maples (and I do like them), but I'm planting for a more diverse future.

          20. stevent1 | Nov 09, 2006 04:56am | #52

            Here's a tree in Waverly Hall GA. A pecan grove. My DW snapped this several years ago. Several limbs go to the ground and the back up. The owner pulled into her lane and explained to my wife, the lovely Georgia Brown, the tree has been used for weddings, reunions, parties, etc. Lore has it the tree was also used for lynchings, not uncommon in the south.

            View Image

            Chuck S
            live, work, build, ...better with wood

          21. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 06:07am | #63

            Man, what a tree and a story to go with it! Pecans are a good nut...too bad we don't have those here.What a green scene. It was that green here just two months ago...now only the grass and mosses are green.On nuts, here we have Walnuts, and Hickory nuts. Hickory is getting more popular for cabinets each year. This is the aptly named Shagbark Hickory, up close:

          22. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 05:08am | #54

            I'll take on a fallacy now:You have probably heard that trees that have rotted out in the center (so the trunks are hollow) are weakened and are a hazard...Not!Research has shown that hollow trees can actually be stronger than solid trees of the same diameter.No way! you say. Well, they are like trusses or I-joists that may be made of less material, but because of the configuration of the material can be stronger and lighter.Ever hear of Cannondale or Klein bicyles with those big, hollow, thin-walled tubes. A big hollow Oak tree can transfer wind loads around, like an arch. A solid tree, of the same diameter, is more likely to snap in the wind. This is because stresses on the windward side of the tree are amplified as the tension on the fibers grows as they are stretched over the solid middle of the tree.The picture is of a Red Oak. You can see the rays. Rays are vascular tissue that conduct fluids sideways in a tree, rather than up and down. In well-dried oak like this some of the rays have started to split on their own, because they dry faster than the other wood fibers and shrink splitting the wood in the process.

          23. User avater
            basswood | Nov 10, 2006 07:31am | #69

            Here is a quote from a German researcher who studied the strength of over 2000 hollow trees:--"many fullcrowned trees of more than
            1 m stem diameter exhibit wall
            thicknesses of only 5 to 10 cm and yet
            have withstood all the severe storms for
            decades (Wessolly 1995, Fig. 6)"He makes the case for hollow trees being very strong and usually safe...but it also turns out that I did exaggerate when I said hollow trees were stronger than a solid tree of the same diameter...they are about 30% weaker (but have greater strength to weight ratio).Most hollow trees are plenty safe...it turns out they were over-built to begin with. : )

          24. splintergroupie | Nov 10, 2006 08:31am | #70

            A rake and a rammbling...tree...This copper birch (beech?) is in Kew Gardens outside London. It had to stretch at least 75' from touch-down on one side to touch-down on the other.How'd you like to rake under that one?

          25. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 02:30am | #77

            I see my copper beech tree didn't attach properly, so i'll try again. The really old trees lay down branches on the ground, where they can root by "layering", a process of forming roots where the limb comes in contact with sufficiently moist soil.

          26. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 02:40am | #78

            That is one crazy looking tree!I've seen a few Subalpine firs in the Rockies propagate by layering too.Here is a crazy Eastern Red Cedar I ran into on Thanksgiving Day...and another crazy cliff dweller flanked by Cedars:

          27. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 05:17am | #80

            If it were me, i'd have a shot of just the texture of the folded bole of the bonzai tree. It reminds me of a similar shot i purchased from an art fair friend. I can't remember now if i thought it was timber and she told me it was rock, or vice versa. Nature changing her mind...

          28. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 06:45am | #82

            Now you tell me! It will be a half-hour drive and an hour long hike to get back to that cedar tree...but you make a good case for trekking back up there...maybe with some snow to add interest. B&W maybe--kinda Ansel Adams style.Here is an attempt to zoom in (kinda grainy though):

          29. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 09:51am | #86

            Tried it on my desktop, but i need a convolution resolution solution. Very pretty though..i'm anxiously awaiting the next installment. <G>

          30. User avater
            basswood | Nov 27, 2006 05:13am | #97

            --"convolution resolution solution" Born under a rhyming planet? <g>My daughter Allie had a better image of that cedar than I did. She is an avid photographer at 12 y.o. Her image original is 1.4 MB--I resized it down to about 250 kb (any smaller and it gets pixelated).That tree is still alive and could be many hundreds of years old (500+ y.o. perhaps).

          31. splintergroupie | Nov 27, 2006 06:29am | #99

            It's just gorgeous. Better orientation than the vertical one, too.Could you email me the larger size? I'm using it on my Merry-Christmas-to-me, 19", flat-panel desktop and it's fuzzy at that size. Give Allie my thanks, please?

          32. kate | Nov 27, 2006 12:29am | #94

            Beautiful - thanks!

          33. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 12:03am | #71

            Here are a few photos of Paper Birch I took this week. With all the leaves gone it is one of the few trees still easy to identify. The first photo shows how the thin papery bark peels into curls. The outerbark can be harvested for canoes without harming the trees. Birch bark is light, thin, strong, and decay resistant. An interesting use of the bark is for improvised splinting of broken bones (learned that from Wikipedia--I'm trying to learn more about these trees myself...hopefully that will help keep this thread interesting). The wood is a common ingredient in OSB and is good for firewood (high BTU's per weight).Important deer & moose chow too.Likes sun so it is found after forest fires burn sunny openings into the forest. Around here, you can find Birch growing right out of the rocks simply because the soil is so poor that nothing else will. No other trees means sunshine for the birch. The pic of my oldest kid perched on a cliff, shows several birch growing in such conditions.

          34. User avater
            zak | Nov 26, 2006 03:11am | #79

            Is the paper birch wood totally different than yellow birch or red birch?

            It seems like birch is often used for plywoods, and painted hardwoods.  It does well in those things, but I happen to like birch a lot for it's wood.  Flamed birch is hard to beat.  Hard to work, too, but that's another story.zak

            "When we build, let us think that we build forever.  Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin

            "so it goes"

             

          35. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 07:06am | #83

            --"Is the paper birch wood totally different than yellow birch or red birch?"We have yellow birch here too, but I don't know how different the wood is. No red birch here. I would guess they would all be nice woods. The larger specimens with no lower branches are good for ply veneers.The best ply birches are European White & Silver Birches (known as Baltic or Russian Birch).I am not familiar with flammed birch, do you have any pictures?

          36. User avater
            zak | Nov 26, 2006 07:20am | #84

            I couldn't find a good angle on any of my projects, but here's an image from the web:

            View Image

            Also called curly yellow birch, apparently.  I like the fact that it's often not plucked out as a seperate grade.  It's fairly easy to find a yellow birch board with moderate curl in a stack of normal boards, for the normal price (on the west coast, around $4/ bf).

            I find flamed birch at least as hard to plane/scrape as curly maple- it's a very hard wood. 

            I'll have to look around for paper birch lumber when I have more time.zak

            "When we build, let us think that we build forever.  Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin

            "so it goes"

             

          37. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 09:43am | #85

            I did a table, a tall dresser, and two night-stands for a couple, a few years back, out of flame birch with bubinga legs and pulls. Luckily i have a 24" wide sander to deal with the grain. They asked recently for a bed to match, but i declined for now...too busy being unemployed.I got excellent supply out of a dealer in Eagle, ID, for less than $3/BF Not a good angle on my pics, either, but here's the table:

          38. User avater
            zak | Nov 26, 2006 11:23am | #87

            That's a great table.  Are those brass rods holding up the top?

            Nice to have a good supplier with that kind of price.  Thought I paid more than $4 in central washington, the supplier was great- he would run my stuff through his wide belt sander, usually no charge.  Every fourth or fifth time, he'd charge me $5 for it.zak

            "When we build, let us think that we build forever.  Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin

            "so it goes"

             

          39. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 11:32am | #88

            Brass tubes. Bolts start on the underside of the stretchers in recessed holes, go through the tubes and fasten into threaded inserts in the top. I wouldn't sit on the edge of that table, but it mostly holds up doilies and pictures in the bedroom. Can't beat that price of sanding...the paper would cost more than that!

          40. splintergroupie | Nov 26, 2006 11:39am | #89

            Here's a table in a ripple maple, which i found to be a lot harder - and harder to work - than the figured birch, though you seemed to find them similar.

          41. kate | Nov 27, 2006 12:32am | #95

            You do some nice work, lady...

          42. splintergroupie | Nov 27, 2006 12:51am | #96

            Thanks! I didn't think i'd get back to woodworking, but now i've pulled out of last year's funk, looking at my woodpile of exotics and playing with molding planes lately has started the wheels turning again.

          43. kate | Nov 28, 2006 01:08am | #107

            It takes a while to getback into one's groove - or, really, to find that new groove - I still feel unfocused, & it's been 2 1/2 years...

          44. JohnT8 | Dec 18, 2006 07:24am | #108

            A victim of the ice storm we had a couple weeks back.  Don't know what kind of tree it was.  Just pulled over on 66 to snap the shot.

            View Image

            jt8

            "When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." -- Alexander Graham Bell

            Edited 12/17/2006 11:26 pm by JohnT8

          45. splintergroupie | Dec 18, 2006 10:57am | #109

            It's a 'wildlife' tree now. We used to have these tin signs we'd nail on certain trees in the forest as we were marking a timber sale, in case we found a dead tree with a nest in it and didn't want the loggers to take it down for safety reasons.So...on planting crews, there was always some guy who would plant a seedling upside down and remark that he was planting a snag for a future 'wildlife' tree.

          46. User avater
            johnnyd | Dec 18, 2006 04:37pm | #110

            My guess is that it's a big old Pin Oak.  They get knarly like that and aren't good for much except fire wood.  I've got a bunch of them around my place like that but only one or two managed to get that big without loosing thir tops.

          47. User avater
            BossHog | Nov 27, 2006 03:46pm | #101

            You know - To look at that stuff, a fella would almost think you knew what you were doing.(-:
            It isn't premarital sex if you have no intention of getting married.

          48. splintergroupie | Nov 27, 2006 06:51pm | #102

            "Almost" is about right, Boss! I'm a bit embarrassed about the proportions on the legs; they could have been about a 1/4" smaller and looked a lot better. Still, it's nicely figured wood. I used the bag holder on my dust collecter as the form for the apron - lazy woman's woodworking.<G>

          49. User avater
            BossHog | Nov 27, 2006 07:17pm | #103

            Oh - Don't me so modest. Your work is great. I was just giving you a hard time.To me, using a dust collector bag as a template is resourceful - Not lazy.Proportions are something that's difficult for me. Did you ever see the thread about the cabinet I built for my Mom? http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=56817.1I got the proportions on it all wrong - It overwhelms the bathroom it's in. My tendency to build "bigger is better" gets me into trouble.Maybe I've watched too many "Home Improvement" reruns.(-:
            Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. [Frederic Bastiat]

          50. splintergroupie | Nov 27, 2006 07:53pm | #104

            She must have a heckuva collection of curlers and towels... ;)

          51. User avater
            BossHog | Nov 27, 2006 08:57pm | #105

            She has a collection of just about EVERYTHING.They live in a 2 story farm house with a full basement. and the whole thing is full of stuff - Much of it completely useless. I made this thing so she could have more storage in her upstairs bacthroom. And I made it because SHE wanted it - Not because I thought she needed it.
            I've been thinking about a sex change. Specifically, I could start having some.

          52. splintergroupie | Nov 27, 2006 09:43pm | #106

            Ah, that should be posted in the FEMALE ECOLOGY blog..."if Mama ain't happy..." LOL

          53. kate | Nov 27, 2006 12:27am | #93

            How great that you take your kids to the woods - you are all fortunate!

          54. User avater
            basswood | Nov 27, 2006 05:20am | #98

            --"How great that you take your kids to the woods - you are all fortunate!"I think so! The girls said it was one of the things they are thankful for when we discussed our blessings as we feasted this week. Sometimes they would rather go hang out at the mall with friends...but I drag them along anyway, then they have a great time and tell their friends about it, etc.

          55. Stuart | Nov 09, 2006 05:13am | #55

            I just had to take down a big old maple in my back yard.  :-(  It was getting some pretty advanced decay in a crotch about 30 feet up, and it was only a matter of time before it fell on my house.

             

          56. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 05:33am | #58

            Was it a Silver Maple?They often branch in a tight "V". This is a weak configuration (also common in Ashes). Oaks, on the other hand, branch more like a "T". this is much stronger. I'll explain...the two branches in a tight "V" both continue to grow in diameter...this causes two problems. First, the tissue in the crotch wedges the two branches apart (splitting the wood), then tissue dies from a lack of circulation due to the pressure of the two branches growing into each other (and the dead wood decays). The decay is accelerated by the trapping of moisture in the crotch.The Silver Maples in my yard have these issues.

          57. Stuart | Nov 09, 2006 05:44am | #59

            Yup, silver maple.  It was a tight V crotch that decayed just as you described, and the way it was going it could well have taken out my house as well as the house next door.  They are kind of trashy trees, but living in the inner city I hate losing any of them.  Fortunately, I still have a number of mature and healthy trees.

             

          58. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 12:44am | #74

            Stuart here is another Silver Maple on its' way out, without the help of Wondergirl--it would be down already:

          59. dedubya | Nov 26, 2006 01:26am | #75

            Do yall have hornbeam up there? Ive been trying to find some

             growing down here in southwest va. to make some rock mauls

            out of, I know it grows around in these parts but havn't seen

            any growing on any of the old farms ive worked at lately must

            be an elavation  thing need to get out father up in the

            mountains I reckon.

          60. User avater
            basswood | Nov 26, 2006 02:01am | #76

            We have both American Hornbeam (aka Blue Beech, Ironwood, & Muscle Wood) and Hophornbeam here. Both are super hard and strong...great for tool handles.The picture here is of American Hornbeam and you can see from the picture why it is sometimes called "Muscle Wood".These are very slow-growing, shade tolerant, trees...so look in the understory of a dark forest.

          61. McPlumb | Dec 18, 2006 04:49pm | #111

            Horn bean, blue beech, ironwood, musclewood names very with local. It grows around here in older woods, were at 920 elevation.

          62. stevent1 | May 06, 2007 02:42am | #112

            JT,

            That giant pecan of my neighbor's should have a bumper crop this year depending on the rain or lack of.

            The tree has a 7' diameter and about an 80' drip line.

            View Image

            The dark green areas will eventually fall of and replaced by cluster of pecans.

            View Image

            View Image

            Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood

          63. JohnT8 | May 08, 2007 07:12pm | #113

            Gonna have a He11 of a time shaking that tree.

             jt8

            "One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency." -- Arnold H. Glasgow

          64. Stuart | Nov 26, 2006 05:50am | #81

            "Stuart here is another Silver Maple on its' way out, without the help of Wondergirl--it would be down already"

            Wow, that one is really defying gravity, at least for a while...I don't think I'd want to stand downhill from it for very long.

          65. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 05:54am | #62

            Here is a picture for you of a strong branching "habit".Imagine the branches of this tree adding girth each year. The "T" configuration allows growth without wedging or compression against other branches.In trees, say no to "V's". You can prune trees to minimize "weak crotches". If you hold your fingers in a peace sign, with your fingers as wide apart as possible, this is a fair guide. If any branches form an angle more acute than your peace sign...remove one of the branches--or a wind storm will.

            Edited 11/8/2006 10:08 pm ET by basswood

          66. User avater
            johnnyd | Nov 09, 2006 03:41pm | #64

            Hey basswood...did you know that right here in our own backyard there is a stave mill, featuring some of that white oak you've been discussing?

            http://www.hometown-pages.com/main.asp?SectionID=14&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=13900

            I'm building some furniture with white oak harvested around here, and quite a bit of the casing in my house came from white oak cleared for the foundaiton.

             BIL just built a mill like this:

            http://www.procutsawmills.com/index.html

            Saturday, if not too cold and nasty (3-6" of snow forecast for tomorrow), I'm going over to his place to slice a few boards from a white oak log that's been sitting for awhile...too nice to make firewood out of it, hope it hasn't degraded too much from sitting for a year.

             

          67. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 04:26pm | #65

            Johnny,Thanks for the links. I knew that the larger White Oaks harvested around here were used for barrel staves...now I know the rest of the story.That mill looks mighty handy...too bad the mild weather won't last a little longer.

          68. User avater
            johnnyd | Nov 09, 2006 04:32pm | #66

            He ultimately is going to put a 5 horse electric motor on it, but the prototype works fine with a Husquvarna and a thin rip chain.

          69. User avater
            basswood | Nov 09, 2006 04:38pm | #67

            Neato.I gotta go get some millwork to the painter this morning, so he can finish ahead of the storm.

          70. stevent1 | Nov 10, 2006 04:58am | #68

            My next door neighbor has an old pecan tree. It is about 4'6" at the trunk.

            View Image

            The crotch is over 7' in diameter. The drip line is about 80'.

            View Image

            Last year we got 43# in the shell.

             

            Chuck S.live, work, build, ...better with wood

          71. JasonQ | Nov 27, 2006 07:24am | #100

            Since we're posting pics of big trees, I thought I'd post one of a huge cottonwood I saw this summer, just northwest of Omaha.  It's along a creek behind a house I happened to be showing that day. 

            The picture doesn't really do it justice, but the guy (me) standing in front of it should give you some idea of its scale.  I'm 5'11. 

            Due to the property's location, I'd suspect the tree and the house it sits behind will be gone sometime in the next 10 years or so. 

            Jason

             

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