Shaggy barked hickories near a stream

Carya ovata or Carya laciniosa

I saw these hickory trees in an old church yard in Christian County, KY. They are growing about 100 feet from a little stream that usually has some pools of water, even in the hottest, driest months of summer.

I don't know whether these hickory trees are shagbarks (Carya ovata)or shellbarks (Carya laciniosa). The two species are very similar. Shellbarks are said to prefer moist locations, so these may be shellbarks. The bark of shellbarks is supposed to be a little less shaggy and scaly than shagbarks. To be honest, I usually call them all shagbarks.

In Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines for Urban and Rural America (see bibliographic info at bottom of page), Gary Hightshoe writes that shagbark hickories (Carya ovata) sometimes grow in alluvial soils in the southern U.S. -- that is, where a stream has deposited silt over the centuries. However, they are often found in dryer environs, such as sunny, wooded hillsides.

Shagbarks can tolerate poor drainage but they will not live where water stands for long periods of time. The trees in the photo are far enough away from the stream that flooding would be brief and infrequent.

Shagbarks are long-lived, slow-growing trees, often surviving over 200 years. The church was built in the first decade of the 1900s, and I suspect that the trees were saplings or bigger at that time.

The shagbark hickory's shape is somewhat narrow. Typically, its spread is about half its height. These trees' lower branches were probably removed to facilitate mowing, making them look particularly narrow in shape. In maturity, the shagbark can reach 100 feet in height in optimal conditions. I believe these trees are about 100 feet tall.

The photo below shows another shagbark or shellbark hickory, a few miles away, which also grows near a little stream. I suspect this one may indeed be a shellbark, because the nuts are so big already.

Young sycamore tree (American planetree)

Fast growing native tree

This young sycamore (aka American planetree, buttonwood, or buttonball) tree is growing along the road ditch near the bottom of a hill. In this spot, it receives ample moisture, and it is flourishing. Look how it is shooting out new leaves.

Sycamores grow very quickly. I've had personal experience with this. About ten years ago, we transplanted a sycamore seedling that sprang up in my garden. It has grown to at least 50 feet of height now, and its ultimate height and breadth will be as much as 100 feet. It likes the area where it is planted -- a section of our little acreage that is not well-drained.  A few inches of water sometimes stand there after heavy rains, and the soil stays "squishy" most of the winter and spring.

Fortunately, it doesn't really matter how well we mow around our sycamore. This sycamore, as is typical of the species, has a lot of roots along the surface of the soil. The long, protruding, root "branches" can be a problem in a well-groomed yard because they're difficult to mow across.

The extensive system of heavy surface roots helps the sycamore to "hang on" in wet areas where the soil sometimes turns muddy or is completely washed away -- such as the stream bank where a sycamore is clinging, in the photo below.

Sycamore's Latin name is Platanus occidentalis. It is found in most of the eastern U.S., and it can be easily recognized by its large leaves and its mottled and peeling white bark. Look for it along waterways.

I've written quite a lot about sycamores. If you're interested in them, be sure to click the "scyamore trees" label for more articles.

Tree Planting in the Amana Colonies

Useful trees cultivated by the Inspirationists

The Amana Colonies of east-central Iowa were one of the most successful communes in the United States. The colonies were established by a group of like-minded Pietists who immigrated from Germany in the 1840s and settled briefly in New York. In the mid-1850s, the group moved to the prairies of eastern Iowa, where they lived communally through the early 1930s. In 1905, the group held over 26,000 acres and the population had grown to over 1800.

A shared religious faith was the basis of the commune and the glue that held it together for over 70 years. The settlers of Amana called themselves "The Community of True Inspiration," believing that God speaks to His followers through inspired prophets, in modern times as in olden times. However, they also believed that the words of the Werkzeuge (prophets) should be carefully tested to see if they were true inspirations -- thence, the name of the group.

One of the Werkzeuge who had a great deal of influence over life in the colonies was Barbara Heineman (1795-1883). The hundreds of inspirations she received included one, late in her life, that dealt with the types of trees that should be grown in the Amana villages. Trees that had been planted for shade or beauty were to be removed, for only fruit-bearing trees should be planted at the homes of the Inspirationists.

There is in the Jahrbuch for 1880, a testimony by Barbara Heinemann, given three years before her death, in which the planting of ornamental trees is severely denounced by the Lord.  "Wilt thou, then," it reads, "prove that it is a beautiful custom to plant trees not bearing fruit? Know then, that the pleasures of the eye and of the flesh and the over bearing manner are a mark of worldliness, and that the spirit of the world has created in you the desire for such a beginning. Alas, away with this idolatry. See ye to it then, that all trees not bearing fruit be removed from the house, for they belong to the pleasure of the eye. You indeed have the opportunity to plant a fruit tree instead, in which the Lord and all sensible people take pleasure."


Source: Amana, the Community of True Inspiration (p. 97) by Bertha Maude Horack Shambaugh. Published in 1908 by the State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City.

The effects of this proclamation are still visible today, according to Jeff Meyer, author of The Tree Book, who notes that the tree population of the seven Amana villages still contains many hickory trees, planted in acquiescence to Heinemann's inspiration.

The Amana Inspirationists, as the Iowa State Horticultural Society reported in 1898, cultivated a superior wild red cherry through careful selection of the seed.

In the German or Amana colonies on the Iowa River in Johnson county, Iowa, which moved to their present place from the State of New York, Mr Budd tells that there is grown in quantity in each of their seven villages a variety of the bird cherry which bears young and abundantly, a fruit which they value for cooking. It has dark foliage and pendulous branches and does not sprout after it commences to bear heavily. The fruit is about as large as a good sized black currant, with a stone no larger than an ordinary bird cherry. It is a pleasant acid, rather too acid to eat raw, but so valued for pies as to be grown largely.

Source: Fruits for the Cold North (p. 35 ) by Charles Gibb. "Reprinted from the Report of the Ontario fruit growers association for 1883."

They also grew groves of catalpa trees, probably for fence posts and as a cash crop for railroad ties.

The National Park Service describes groves of pine trees, planted throughout the Amana farmland. Pine trees lined the borders of cemeteries. The schoolchildren of the colonies also planted and tended several large groves of pine trees called schulwälder (school forests). The pine groves were much enjoyed by the Inspirationists as places to walk and to picnic.

The pine groves of the Amana Colonies were commended in a 1908 U.S. Forest Service bulletin :"The Amana colony in Iowa County has several large groves of white pine and other pines which have proved very successful. Soil of this region is usually a rich sandy loam."

One large schulwäld of Austrian pines was harvested during World War II, and its wood given to the war effort. At least one schulwäld is still standing on private property in the area, according to the National Park Service.

Why people like mimosa trees --and why I don't!

Beautiful, but messy and invasive

Such exotic shadows. You might think this a scene from a tropical paradise or a garden of the Far East. No, these leaf shadows were seen on the door of my funny little garden shed right here in central Kentucky. They are the shadows of mimosa leave.

The mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) tree truly is beautiful. Besides these interesting fern-like pinnate  leaves, they have fragrant pink blooms for a long period of time in mid-summer. The flowers are much enjoyed by hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.

These are the sorts of things that make people think they want a mimosa tree in their yard. Think twice before making such a decision! Please -- take my advice seriously. I know this tree well, and here are the reasons I don't like it.

1. It is a messy tree. The long stems of its leaves and its long seed pods have to be raked up.

2.It is an excessively prolific tree -- in other words, invasive. Little mimosa trees pop up in every flower bed, and if not caught right away, they very quickly establish themselves and grow big. That's why I have mimosa leaf shadows on my shed. This tree is growing in a bed of perennials.

3. It is a short-lived tree. Its average lifespan is 10 to 20 years.

4. It is a weak tree. Its brittle wood is easily broken in weather events like ice storms and high winds.

5. It is not a native tree of the Americas. It is originally from Asia. I prefer native trees.

Bottom line: Plant one if you must. But when the problems begin, don't say you weren't warned.

Still trying to kill their trees...

The bulldozing continues

A few months ago, I wrote about the trees at a construction site. I said that the few trees left standing on the lot had suffered a lot of abuse, and I expressed doubt that they would survive over the long term.

Last week, the bulldozer was brought back to level the ground some more. Look how the dirt is piled around the trunk of the tree in the photo. Any feeder roots that survived the original assault have surely been ripped off and shoved away now. In addition, the soil has again been compacted by heavy equipment.

Today, when I passed, a landscaping firm was heaping red mulch-nuggets around the trees. It hardly matters at this point, but that's one more stupid move if they want the trees to live. Trees don't do well with mulch piled high around their trunks. It invites insects, disease, rot, and rodents. (See "Proper Mulching Techniques" for trees.)

Mark my words -- the trees at this homesite are facing a premature death. I see that as a sad thing because the trees here were healthy before the construction began. It will take several decades to replace some of them. The homeowners have succeeded in making their wooded, rural lot look just like any large homesite in a suburban subdivision.

Related posts:
Will these trees survive construction?
How to compute a tree's critical root area