Cheryl here in Southern NH, still recovering from "Snowtober"

Lost 4 of my poplars - three snapped in half. Should have cut the other
on down after hurricane Irene. Knew that one was on borrowed time....


but as to the snapped trees. Each one was about halfway up - between
15-18 feet up. I think the of the two that face the house, one has to
come down the rest of the way. There are no branches below the snap.

It's the other two that I have a question about - both have some
branches left. do you think they'll recover enough to continue to
provide shelter for local wildlife (birds, squirrels).

If it wasn't so ugly and depressing, I'd consider leaving the other to
see it would become woodpecker food. But I want a "pretty" view out the
front of the house.

Cheryl

On 11/5/11 3:41 AM, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
Cheryl here in Southern NH, still recovering from "Snowtober"

Lost 4 of my poplars - three snapped in half. Should have cut the other
on down after hurricane Irene. Knew that one was on borrowed time....


but as to the snapped trees. Each one was about halfway up - between
15-18 feet up. I think the of the two that face the house, one has to
come down the rest of the way. There are no branches below the snap.

It's the other two that I have a question about - both have some
branches left. do you think they'll recover enough to continue to
provide shelter for local wildlife (birds, squirrels).

If it wasn't so ugly and depressing, I'd consider leaving the other to
see it would become woodpecker food. But I want a "pretty" view out the
front of the house.

All species in the genus Populus are fast-growing. They should recover
nicely, but they might require corrective pruning after recovery. Even
the one that has no branches should resprout. Just leave all of them
alone until spring. Pruning now will encourage new growth that will be
too tender to survive the winter.

Just watch out for root suckers, which are likely to result from damage
to the top. If you don't remove them promptly, you will have a poplar
thicket.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:37:16 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

On 11/5/11 3:41 AM, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
Cheryl here in Southern NH, still recovering from "Snowtober"

Lost 4 of my poplars - three snapped in half. Should have cut the other
on down after hurricane Irene. Knew that one was on borrowed time....


but as to the snapped trees. Each one was about halfway up - between
15-18 feet up. I think the of the two that face the house, one has to
come down the rest of the way. There are no branches below the snap.

It's the other two that I have a question about - both have some
branches left. do you think they'll recover enough to continue to
provide shelter for local wildlife (birds, squirrels).

If it wasn't so ugly and depressing, I'd consider leaving the other to
see it would become woodpecker food. But I want a "pretty" view out the
front of the house.

All species in the genus Populus are fast-growing. They should recover
nicely, but they might require corrective pruning after recovery. Even
the one that has no branches should resprout. Just leave all of them
alone until spring. Pruning now will encourage new growth that will be
too tender to survive the winter.

Just watch out for root suckers, which are likely to result from damage
to the top. If you don't remove them promptly, you will have a poplar
thicket.

I don't consider poplars real trees, they are horrid giant weeds with
no redeeming value whatsoever, they're for pinheads who are into
quantity at the expense of quality... fortunately poplars don't live
long. My recommedation is to remove that trash and plant something
decent.

Brooklyn1 wrote:
On Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:37:16 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

On 11/5/11 3:41 AM, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
Cheryl here in Southern NH, still recovering from "Snowtober"

Lost 4 of my poplars - three snapped in half. Should have cut the
other on down after hurricane Irene. Knew that one was on borrowed
time....


but as to the snapped trees. Each one was about halfway up - between
15-18 feet up. I think the of the two that face the house, one has
to come down the rest of the way. There are no branches below the
snap.

It's the other two that I have a question about - both have some
branches left. do you think they'll recover enough to continue to
provide shelter for local wildlife (birds, squirrels).

If it wasn't so ugly and depressing, I'd consider leaving the other
to see it would become woodpecker food. But I want a "pretty" view
out the front of the house.

All species in the genus Populus are fast-growing. They should
recover nicely, but they might require corrective pruning after
recovery. Even the one that has no branches should resprout. Just
leave all of them alone until spring. Pruning now will encourage
new growth that will be too tender to survive the winter.

Just watch out for root suckers, which are likely to result from
damage to the top. If you don't remove them promptly, you will have
a poplar thicket.

I don't consider poplars real trees, they are horrid giant weeds with
no redeeming value whatsoever, they're for pinheads who are into
quantity at the expense of quality... fortunately poplars don't live
long. My recommedation is to remove that trash and plant something
decent.

They do have a problem with breaking, as the OP has experienced.

On 11/5/2011 1:14 PM, Bob F wrote:
Brooklyn1 wrote:
On Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:37:16 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

On 11/5/11 3:41 AM, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
Cheryl here in Southern NH, still recovering from "Snowtober"

Lost 4 of my poplars - three snapped in half. Should have cut the
other on down after hurricane Irene. Knew that one was on borrowed
time....


but as to the snapped trees. Each one was about halfway up - between
15-18 feet up. I think the of the two that face the house, one has
to come down the rest of the way. There are no branches below the
snap.

It's the other two that I have a question about - both have some
branches left. do you think they'll recover enough to continue to
provide shelter for local wildlife (birds, squirrels).

If it wasn't so ugly and depressing, I'd consider leaving the other
to see it would become woodpecker food. But I want a "pretty" view
out the front of the house.

All species in the genus Populus are fast-growing. They should
recover nicely, but they might require corrective pruning after
recovery. Even the one that has no branches should resprout. Just
leave all of them alone until spring. Pruning now will encourage
new growth that will be too tender to survive the winter.

Just watch out for root suckers, which are likely to result from
damage to the top. If you don't remove them promptly, you will have
a poplar thicket.

I don't consider poplars real trees, they are horrid giant weeds with
no redeeming value whatsoever, they're for pinheads who are into
quantity at the expense of quality... fortunately poplars don't live
long. My recommedation is to remove that trash and plant something
decent.

They do have a problem with breaking, as the OP has experienced.


I feel the same way. I would cut them down.

Years ago, I planted a dozen or so Lombardy poplars and hybrid poplars
for quick screens and got the screening but regretted it as all died due
to disease or wind.

Huge tulip poplars around here were knocked over by near tornado winds
last summer, destroying a couple of houses.

I'm guessing you have Lombardy poplars, the tall, skinny jobs? They're not
very long lived anyhow, and are probably close to the end of their lifespan.
Actually, most of the poplars have very short lifespans and usually brittle
wood.

Consider leaving the two remaining ones for a couple of years while you
replant the area with longer lived species. Then when the new trees have
gotten established, take down the poplars.

Depending on where you are in NH and the ground temperature, it might be
possible (and perhaps even advisable) to get the new trees in ASAP,
like within the next week. I'm on the other coast and about that
far north, and I'd still plant out here but that wouldn't be an option
in higher altitudes.

You might also consider some big, fast-growing shrubs for quick color and
form in your front yard, with the plan of taking those out when the new
trees get bigger.

On 5 Nov 2011 21:42:04 GMT, Kay Lancaster wrote:

I'm guessing you have Lombardy poplars, the tall, skinny jobs? They're not
very long lived anyhow, and are probably close to the end of their lifespan.
Actually, most of the poplars have very short lifespans and usually brittle
wood.

Consider leaving the two remaining ones for a couple of years while you
replant the area with longer lived species. Then when the new trees have
gotten established, take down the poplars.

I'd take those down now, get rid of those trash trees to make room for
real trees. I've seen too many people waste ten growing years
attempting to grow a privacy screen of those cheapskate trees, they're
cheap but utterly useless... they can't screen because they're
deciduous, they never grow very thick anyway so they don't offer much
screening in summer either. And lombardy poplar wins hands down for
the uglist plant on the planet.

Depending on where you are in NH and the ground temperature, it might be
possible (and perhaps even advisable) to get the new trees in ASAP,
like within the next week.

Now that I know it's NH, as long as there isn't a problem with deer
munching, the perfect screening tree is Canadian Hemlock. And one can
definitely plant them in NH now, they can even be planted in frozen
ground if one can auger through, back fill, and mulch heavily... for
total privacy, if one has the space, plant a double staggered row...
find at least five year old specimens from a local nursery, seedlings
are too iffy and take too long to look like a tree.
http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plant...an_1-18-08.htm
http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/treeDetail.cfm?id=142

In article ,
Kay Lancaster wrote:

I'm guessing you have Lombardy poplars, the tall, skinny jobs? They're not
very long lived anyhow, and are probably close to the end of their lifespan.
Actually, most of the poplars have very short lifespans and usually brittle
wood.

Consider leaving the two remaining ones for a couple of years while you
replant the area with longer lived species. Then when the new trees have
gotten established, take down the poplars.

Depending on where you are in NH and the ground temperature, it might be
possible (and perhaps even advisable) to get the new trees in ASAP,
like within the next week. I'm on the other coast and about that
far north, and I'd still plant out here but that wouldn't be an option
in higher altitudes.

You might also consider some big, fast-growing shrubs for quick color and
form in your front yard, with the plan of taking those out when the new
trees get bigger.

She does know what she is talkin' about.
--
- Billy

E pluribus unum

On 11/5/11 5:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote:
I'm guessing you have Lombardy poplars, the tall, skinny jobs? They're not
very long lived anyhow, and are probably close to the end of their lifespan.
Actually, most of the poplars have very short lifespans and usually brittle
wood.

Consider leaving the two remaining ones for a couple of years while you
replant the area with longer lived species. Then when the new trees have
gotten established, take down the poplars.

Depending on where you are in NH and the ground temperature, it might be
possible (and perhaps even advisable) to get the new trees in ASAP,
like within the next week. I'm on the other coast and about that
far north, and I'd still plant out here but that wouldn't be an option
in higher altitudes.

You might also consider some big, fast-growing shrubs for quick color and
form in your front yard, with the plan of taking those out when the new
trees get bigger.





I'm honestly not sure what kind of popular they - they were growing wild
here when I built the house and do provide shelter for the birds in
their crowns.

Everything is in what I call my copse - a smallish area of trees we
didn't take down when we built to screen the house from the road. There
are white pines, birches, oaks, hazelnuts and other naturally occurring
growth.

On Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:43:35 -0500, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 11/5/11 5:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote:

I'm honestly not sure what kind of popular they - they were growing wild
here when I built the house and do provide shelter for the birds in
their crowns.

Everything is in what I call my copse - a smallish area of trees we
didn't take down when we built to screen the house from the road. There
are white pines, birches, oaks, hazelnuts and other naturally occurring
growth

Except for the so-called tulip poplar (a magnolia relative, not a poplar
at all (and you do have them in NH), most of the poplar species you've got
up there don't live long. Some, like quaking aspen, tend to be clonal,
and you'll get sprouts all over the yard when they come down. It might be
good to figure out what you've got, and if it tends to send up sprouts when
the parent trees are damaged. If so, I'd recommend ringing the bark on the
remaining trees and letting them starve their root systems to death over the
next several years while you replace them with longer lived or more desirable
species for next to a road. When choosing trees, it's also useful to look
up --- here in Oregon, we live with trees heavily butchered for power line
clearance, a sad sight indeed for a mighty old oak or a flat-topped doug
fir.

Since you seem to be interested in wildlife gardening and want to keep some
privacy from the road (our house is set up like that, too), you might want
to consider underplanting with shrubs and vines with good wildlife value, and
choosing a couple of replacement trees with those in mind.

New Hampshire's Extension service, Fish & Game dept and Audubon all have
nice sections on choosing plants for wildlife value.

Me, I'm still working on the bitter cherry, English ivy and Himalayan
blackberry that came with the place... some days, I even think I'm winning.

Kay

On 11/6/11 2:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote [in part]:

When choosing trees, it's also useful to look
up --- here in Oregon, we live with trees heavily butchered for power line
clearance, a sad sight indeed for a mighty old oak or a flat-topped doug
fir.


In southern California, the utilities lop off the tops of palms for
power line clearance. Of course, this kills the palms. However, they
leave the trunks standing. When dry, a dead palm trunk can burn like
gasoline and destroy the power lines above it.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

David E. Ross wrote:
On 11/6/11 2:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote [in part]:

When choosing trees, it's also useful to look
up --- here in Oregon, we live with trees heavily butchered for
power line clearance, a sad sight indeed for a mighty old oak or a
flat-topped doug fir.


In southern California, the utilities lop off the tops of palms for
power line clearance. Of course, this kills the palms. However, they
leave the trunks standing. When dry, a dead palm trunk can burn like
gasoline and destroy the power lines above it.

Here we have two different departments who work together. The
Beautification Department plants trees under power lines. The Uglification
Department cuts the centre out of them to stop them touching the lines.

D

On 11/6/11 6:43 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
David E. Ross wrote:
On 11/6/11 2:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote [in part]:

When choosing trees, it's also useful to look
up --- here in Oregon, we live with trees heavily butchered for
power line clearance, a sad sight indeed for a mighty old oak or a
flat-topped doug fir.


In southern California, the utilities lop off the tops of palms for
power line clearance. Of course, this kills the palms. However, they
leave the trunks standing. When dry, a dead palm trunk can burn like
gasoline and destroy the power lines above it.

Here we have two different departments who work together. The
Beautification Department plants trees under power lines. The
Uglification Department cuts the centre out of them to stop them
touching the lines.

D


and here people can tell the power company not to trim the trees and
vines. That's a mistake and half.

A sensible solution must be out there - I'd prefer underground utilities
personally. Or a realistic cutback policy. I really don't want to buy a
generator but I'm getting too old for 6-9 days with out power.


Cheryl

On 11/6/11 5:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote:
On Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:43:35 -0500, Cheryl wrote:
On 11/5/11 5:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote:

I'm honestly not sure what kind of popular they - they were growing wild
here when I built the house and do provide shelter for the birds in
their crowns.

Everything is in what I call my copse - a smallish area of trees we
didn't take down when we built to screen the house from the road. There
are white pines, birches, oaks, hazelnuts and other naturally occurring
growth

Except for the so-called tulip poplar (a magnolia relative, not a poplar
at all (and you do have them in NH), most of the poplar species you've got
up there don't live long. Some, like quaking aspen, tend to be clonal,
and you'll get sprouts all over the yard when they come down. It might be
good to figure out what you've got, and if it tends to send up sprouts when
the parent trees are damaged. If so, I'd recommend ringing the bark on the
remaining trees and letting them starve their root systems to death over the
next several years while you replace them with longer lived or more desirable
species for next to a road. When choosing trees, it's also useful to look
up --- here in Oregon, we live with trees heavily butchered for power line
clearance, a sad sight indeed for a mighty old oak or a flat-topped doug
fir.

Since you seem to be interested in wildlife gardening and want to keep some
privacy from the road (our house is set up like that, too), you might want
to consider underplanting with shrubs and vines with good wildlife value, and
choosing a couple of replacement trees with those in mind.

New Hampshire's Extension service, Fish& Game dept and Audubon all have
nice sections on choosing plants for wildlife value.

Me, I'm still working on the bitter cherry, English ivy and Himalayan
blackberry that came with the place... some days, I even think I'm winning.

Kay


On the top of the list is to go see what the library has for tree id books,


I suspect I should have a pro come in and take down the "poplars" and a
huge old pine with more than a bit of woodpecker activity. Since if it
fell it wouldn't hit the house or my driveway, and the cost is
prohibitive at the moment, it stays. I can take the poplars down with a
box saw.



for now - back to clean up
C

Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 11/6/11 6:43 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
David E. Ross wrote:
On 11/6/11 2:42 PM, Kay Lancaster wrote [in part]:

When choosing trees, it's also useful to look
up --- here in Oregon, we live with trees heavily butchered for
power line clearance, a sad sight indeed for a mighty old oak or a
flat-topped doug fir.


In southern California, the utilities lop off the tops of palms for
power line clearance. Of course, this kills the palms. However, they
leave the trunks standing. When dry, a dead palm trunk can burn like
gasoline and destroy the power lines above it.

Here we have two different departments who work together. The
Beautification Department plants trees under power lines. The
Uglification Department cuts the centre out of them to stop them
touching the lines.

D


and here people can tell the power company not to trim the trees and
vines. That's a mistake and half.


I was referring to the urban situation of the two Departments. They produce
street after street with avenues of U-shape trees! I am rural and the
issues are somewhat different.

You can't prevent the power company from clearing the line here. First
every neighbour would curse you if you grew (or left) a tree near the wire
that came down and blacked out the district, secondly the power company has
an easement over the strip of land where the line goes so they have the
legal right to cross your property and deal with it (on the easement)
whether you like it or not. They have a helicopter that inspects the line
about once a year and the cutting contractor follows. I suppose this would
be called fascism in some places but it is practical and other than the
'copter annoying the horses does no harm.



A sensible solution must be out there - I'd prefer underground
utilities personally. Or a realistic cutback policy. I really don't
want to buy a generator but I'm getting too old for 6-9 days with out
power.

Underground would be nice but way too expensive here where there are few
subscribers to pay for it.

David