Tree Doctor * Howard Burnett.Befuddled by pruning, lobed lobed adj. Having a lobe or lobes: lobed leaves. Adj. 1. lobed - having deeply indented margins but with lobes not entirely separate from each other lobate leaves, or disease? Send your questions to our experts: Tree Doctor c/o mrobbins@amfor.org Q: I just had an old ash deadwooded. Could you tell me its age? I measured 5 1/2 ft.width, 13 ft 4 in. circumference, 60 ft. canopy, and 68 1/2 ft height. Via e-mail A: The only way to tell the age of a tree is to count the annual rings annual rings, the growth layers of wood that are produced each year in the stems and roots of trees and shrubs. In climates with well-marked alternations of seasons (either cold and warm or wet and dry), the wood cells produced when water is easily available and . If you have a stump to study, you could do this; otherwise it's a wild guessing game. To hazard at risk; liable to suffer damage or loss. See also: Hazard a guess, figure how fast this tree grew in its lifetime. In a good growing site, with good soil and plenty of sun and moisture, it might have grown as much as 2 inches or so every 10 years. Using your circumference measurement, the diameter of this tree would be about 51 inches and you could project the age at 250 to 260 years. Remember that this is truly a wild guess. Call it "very old" and let it go at that--unless you can count the rings on the stump campaigning for public office; running for election to office. See also: Stump . Q: The roots of a huge tree have come into my father's yard and sprouted. That one tree was fine, but now a whole bunch have sprouted. We hack them down, but they keep growing back. Now the trees are literally taking over the back yard. The trees are so out of control, he wants to sell the house but can't until this is taken care of and he can repair the back yard. Please help! Marisa Baker A: First, consult a local horticulturist to identify the tree and get a professional opinion on eradication. Find a good horticulturist by contacting arboretums, better nursery and garden centers, or colleges where botany or horticulture is taught. Park boards or commissions might be another good contact. Check: http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/1699/. It describes the Ailanthus ailanthus (ālăn`thəs), any tree of the genus Ailanthus, native to the warm regions of Asia and Australia. Ailanthus wood is sometimes used for cabinetmaking and for the manufacture of charcoal. tree, which fits your description and can be a real pest. A number of people there attest to the difficulty of ridding an area of this tree; their best advice seems to be either to dig it up or treat each freshly cut stem with strong herbicide herbicide (hr`bəsīd'), chemical compound that kills plants or inhibits their normal growth. A herbicide in a particular formulation and application can be described as selective or nonselective. . Q: I'm looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. detailed "planting for dummies" help for cones-to-seeds metasequoia (dawn redwood dawn redwood: see sequoia. dawn redwood Coniferous, nonevergreen tree (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), the only living species of the genus Metasequoia, of the family Taxodiaceae, native to remote valleys of central China. ). Christopher Hopper  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . Via e-mail [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A: Metasequoia cones ripen rip·en tr. & intr.v. rip·ened, rip·en·ing, rip·ens To make or become ripe or riper; mature. See Synonyms at mature. rip in December. Pick cones when the scales naturally begin to open and they'll continue to open in a week or two at room temperature. Opened cones need to be tumbled as some seeds adhere to the cone scales. Seeds can be sown directly on soil and mulched with fine sand. Fumigate fu·mi·gate v. To subject to smoke or fumes, usually in order to exterminate pests or disinfect. fu or heat-sterilize the soil to prevent the growth of damping-off fungi during early seedling growth. Young seedlings should be grown in high humidity, such as a greenhouse with overhead sprinklers, and, in hot climates, seedlings shaded during their first growing season. Apparently metasequoia can also be readily reproduced by rooted cuttings. Q: What is the meaning of forestation and deforestation deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. ? What are the differences between them? Manisha via e-mail A: A forest is any area covered by trees. Forestation means establishing tree cover on the land, either by planting or seeding trees on land where there are no trees now or on lands where the trees have been cut for wood products. Either way, "forestation" means the establishment of new tree growth on an area of land. Deforestation means the opposite: the removal of trees and conversion of the land to other uses, like agriculture or for cities, airports, or roads. The result of deforestation is that there will be fewer acres of forest land in the future. Q: Can you determine if a tree can be saved or refer me to someone who can? One of our oaks was damaged by Hurricane Frances and is split at the trunk. I need to find out if it can be saved or if I must cut it down. If I must cut it, can the trunk below the damage be left to grow or is it better to remove the trunk & stump and start over? It is about 6 years old and was about 8 feet tall when it was planted. Greg Padowitz Via e-mail A: Sorry, but we can neither diagnose nor prescribe treatment at this distance. However, the picture you sent shows a severe injury. It would be prudent at this point to consult an arborist or horticulturist familiar with tree damage in your area. In some areas this split might be bolted together to provide future strength, but I wonder if this might just open the door for future wood rot. I gather from the tree's size that tree growth is vigorous in your area and saving it would be a plus. If you decide to go with a new tree, a single stem specimen might be more practical. Generally, growing a new tree is preferable to encouraging resprouting from the former tree's stump, because the stump itself is subject to attack by insects and disease, which would then have access to the sprouts. |
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