Which trees held up the best?
 

Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?

Which trees held up the best?
 

My Southern magnolias are ok but I saw many in other places with limbs
torn off. The American Holly and the Nellie Stevens Holly are fine. Many
of the young Eastern red cedars just bent over but all my old ones are
trashed. Those, the pines and the Bradford pears were worst hit. This
storm gave a clear example of the Bradford Pear's structural defects. I
understand there are new cultivars with better branching habits. I
wonder if anyone has some planted and if so how they fared?

ncstockguy wrote:

Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?



--
Pat Brothers
The Powell House
Wake Forest, NC Zone 7b
The Perennials Lady at Atlantic Ave. Orchids and Garden Center

Which trees held up the best?
 

What really surprised me was how well our ancient, craggy oak in the
back yard fared. I expected major damage, but aside from a few small
branches on the ground, hardly any limbs were lost. I've noticed other
large oaks which tell the same story. Meanwhile, my property is
littered with half-pines and broken Bradfords. Maybe oaks are the way
to go.

MAC
--
Take out Chinese to reply.

Which trees held up the best?
 

I think nature is telling us something about the Bradford Pears that seemed
to virtualy EXPLODE from the storm. I've always known that they were
trouble; the way limbs seemed to peel off after any small storm. You guys
are right on track when you mention planting Oaks and the like. Keep with
the tried a true...

Scott
"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?

Which trees held up the best?
 

I have 12 oaks in my yard in N. Raleigh. Only 4 good sized limbs on the
ground, none on the house. However, I have 2 big limbs in one oak in the
front yard and 1 big limb in another oak in the backyard by the patio that
have broken and are hanging about 30 -40 feet up in the each tree. These
limbs are 6-8 inches in diameter where they have broken with alot of small
leaf filled branches. They actually look like 3 big mushroom hanging upside
down. One will fall on my patio, the other two in the front yard whenever
they decide to turn loose.........unless I get tired of seeing them hang and
spend the money to have them cut down.
Oaks definitely are better in ice than pines.....
"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?

Which trees held up the best?
 

This
storm gave a clear example of the Bradford Pear's structural defects.

I had no problems with my Bradfords, while neighbors lost all of theirs. I have
been hard pruning them for the last four years. (since we bought the property)
While pruning, I removed many of the lower branches (6-8" diameter) and removed
any excess and criss-crossed branches in the canopy with a pole pruner. I am
convinced that this is what saved this tree.

Also, the trees hold their leaves so late into the winter, that the weight of
the ice did some real damage to many of the Bradfords, as well as the sweetgums.

I second the notion of planting Oaks. Too bad, I won't be around to see them
mature. I guess we should plant for the future.

Brad

Which trees held up the best?
 

A neighbor down the street lost a big Bradford in an interesting way:
All the branches broke off at the crotch, about four or five feet up,
and splayed out in all directions. From above, it probably formed a
rough circle. You just can't buy that kind of entertainment value.

MAC
--
Take out Chinese to reply.

Which trees held up the best?
 

Scott,

I found your description of Bradford Pears (below) interesting, as my
neighbor asked if I'd seen the remnants of a line of them that looked as
though someone had used TNT on them! Interestingly, my Bradford Pear seemed
to come through fine, even though its silhouette was a little "wedgy" in the
middle at first. (It probably benefited -- just this once -- from being
*way* too close to 4 Leyland Cypress, which are themselves under pine
trees.)

The pines in the "woods" area of my property took a beating, but the lone
pine tree by itself in the middle of the yard actually righted itself -- I
thought it was a goner, because the top of the tree was bent over on the
ground.

And then, of course, there's my neighbor's "widowmaker" -- species
unknown, but it has broken limbs ready to take out the power line to my
house or the one to his, or both! I don't know if the tree was *ever*
remotely attractive, but it's really, really ugly now! The owner bought a
"fixer-upper" and has sought our advice on many other homeowning &
landscaping issues, so I think he'll listen to reason -- especially if he
gets a really good look at the branches that "bulged/split" near the trunk.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

nospam.mindspring.com wrote in message
...
I think nature is telling us something about the Bradford Pears that
seemed
to virtualy EXPLODE from the storm. I've always known that they were
trouble; the way limbs seemed to peel off after any small storm. You guys
are right on track when you mention planting Oaks and the like. Keep with
the tried a true...

Scott
"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?

Which trees held up the best?
 

In article , Brad Heidinger
wrote:

I second the notion of planting Oaks. Too bad, I won't be around to see them
mature. I guess we should plant for the future.

That's what everybody in the '20s did for us. I'm definitely in the
"pass it forward" camp on this one. Every property I've ever had, I
planted trees.

Dan

Which trees held up the best?
 

Annie,

You're not from around Hillsbrough are you? I've seen many a Bradford with a
lot of branches down, but none like what I've seen at a church on
hwy86...about 5 of them that, like you said, looked like they were blown
apart with TNT! These trees seem to do fine, until they get larger. Then
there's no telling what they'll do.

Bill, in a previous post, states that oaks loose limbs also. I agree, but
not to the extent of the Bradfords! We may not be around to see the fruits
of our labors, but our children will. Let's not always be in such a hurry
for results, or so selfless in that we neglect the future for the sake of a
quick fix!

I don't mean to rant, it's just that I'm not thrilled with the thought that
everyone plants these genetically modified (not I'm not anti-GMO) trees, and
they last on average only about 10 years. They have a definite beauty, but
lack resiliancy!

OK...I'm ready to be slammed now...(be gentle).

Scott


"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
om...
Scott,

I found your description of Bradford Pears (below) interesting, as my
neighbor asked if I'd seen the remnants of a line of them that looked as
though someone had used TNT on them! Interestingly, my Bradford Pear
seemed
to come through fine, even though its silhouette was a little "wedgy" in
the
middle at first. (It probably benefited -- just this once -- from
being
*way* too close to 4 Leyland Cypress, which are themselves under pine
trees.)

The pines in the "woods" area of my property took a beating, but the lone
pine tree by itself in the middle of the yard actually righted itself --
I
thought it was a goner, because the top of the tree was bent over on the
ground.

And then, of course, there's my neighbor's "widowmaker" -- species
unknown, but it has broken limbs ready to take out the power line to my
house or the one to his, or both! I don't know if the tree was *ever*
remotely attractive, but it's really, really ugly now! The owner bought a
"fixer-upper" and has sought our advice on many other homeowning &
landscaping issues, so I think he'll listen to reason -- especially if
he
gets a really good look at the branches that "bulged/split" near the
trunk.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

nospam.mindspring.com wrote in message
...
I think nature is telling us something about the Bradford Pears that
seemed
to virtualy EXPLODE from the storm. I've always known that they were
trouble; the way limbs seemed to peel off after any small storm. You
guys
are right on track when you mention planting Oaks and the like. Keep
with
the tried a true...

Scott
"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?

Which trees held up the best?
 

ncstockguy wrote:
Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer climate?

I haven't seen anyone else mention it, but we have a very large cedar that's
had no problems with any of our storms. I wish I knew what type it was; it
just came with the house. We also have a maple and some oaks that were
fine, but many limbs were lost on the pines. Drag 'em back to the woods to
join the rest of the underbrush...

Beth

Which trees held up the best?
 

I live in an area of "Depression Cut" forest. The largest trees are
about 65 years old. There are some over 100 years old that were
apparently trees in the yards of long-gone simple homes. I see that
it was mostly pines that were topped and thus killed. Also those
species or individuals that still had unfallen leaves (which collected
more ice and weight). The most tragic is a very large oak well over
100 years old that lost about 50% of its limbs. So sad to see all
those limbs (alone the size of large trees) surrounding its base.
I've seen a number of ice storms since I moved to the woods 8 years
ago, but none with this much damage. The very fact that so many of
these survived Hazel and Fran, plus all the smaller ice storms,
indicates it is just one more example of the changing world climate
and the more severe weather events happening lately.
In walking around here I see mostly pines killed (the younger ones),
large limbs of the oaks down, and a very large dogwood on my own land
uprooted (but they have ALL been slowly dying.... very few living
anymore here), but the ashes seem to have held up very well (unless a
casualty of another tree falling on them).
Anyway, seeing what has happened to trees which have survived for over
half a century from previous storms, it seems to me rather than treat
only the symptoms (such as planting fewer Bradford Pears and more
oaks), we all need to work at fewer gas guzzling SUV's, dirty
industrial emissions, etc., and try to save our environment in general
for future generations by reversing the man-made aspects of global
warming/weather pattern changes.
Kira

Which trees held up the best?
 

The very fact that so many of
these survived Hazel and Fran, plus all the smaller ice storms,
indicates it is just one more example of the changing world climate
and the more severe weather events happening lately.


What are the changing world climates? I am curious. I haven't read any
concrete evidence of any changing climates.

Maybe the hurricanes weakened the structural integrity of the trees and
the ice storm was the kicker? Ice storms are frequent in the Piedmont.
This one happened to be a more severe than others in recent years. I think
it is unfair to blame industry and fuel consumption on local climatic
events. There have been severe climatic occurrences before people
inhabited the earth. I don't think SUV owners are the culprit to an ice
storm or a hurricane. Here are a few facts:


There have been fewer hurricanes during the 20th century.

Glaciers are receding in eight mountain ranges. Advancing in three
mountain ranges.

Arctic regions are actually cooling since 1940's.

Models predict a warming of about 0.35 C per decade in the mid
troposphere. Two satellites (MSU and TOVS) and radiosondes show a cooling,
thus falsifying the IPCC models.

I don't mean to be curt, I just deal in facts. (it's my nature...get
it...nature) : )

Brad

Which trees held up the best?
 

Nope, Scott, I'm in what I refer to as "NE Raleigh" -- in my case, I'm in
Wake County just outside the NE corner of Raleigh!

Anne Lurie

nospam.mindspring.com wrote in message
...
Annie,

You're not from around Hillsbrough are you? I've seen many a Bradford with
a
lot of branches down, but none like what I've seen at a church on
hwy86...about 5 of them that, like you said, looked like they were blown
apart with TNT! These trees seem to do fine, until they get larger. Then
there's no telling what they'll do.

Bill, in a previous post, states that oaks loose limbs also. I agree, but
not to the extent of the Bradfords! We may not be around to see the fruits
of our labors, but our children will. Let's not always be in such a hurry
for results, or so selfless in that we neglect the future for the sake of
a
quick fix!

I don't mean to rant, it's just that I'm not thrilled with the thought
that
everyone plants these genetically modified (not I'm not anti-GMO) trees,
and
they last on average only about 10 years. They have a definite beauty, but
lack resiliancy!

OK...I'm ready to be slammed now...(be gentle).

Scott


"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
om...
Scott,

I found your description of Bradford Pears (below) interesting, as my
neighbor asked if I'd seen the remnants of a line of them that looked as
though someone had used TNT on them! Interestingly, my Bradford Pear
seemed
to come through fine, even though its silhouette was a little "wedgy" in
the
middle at first. (It probably benefited -- just this once -- from
being
*way* too close to 4 Leyland Cypress, which are themselves under pine
trees.)

The pines in the "woods" area of my property took a beating, but the
lone
pine tree by itself in the middle of the yard actually righted
tself --
I
thought it was a goner, because the top of the tree was bent over on the
ground.

And then, of course, there's my neighbor's "widowmaker" -- species
unknown, but it has broken limbs ready to take out the power line to my
house or the one to his, or both! I don't know if the tree was *ever*
remotely attractive, but it's really, really ugly now! The owner bought
a
"fixer-upper" and has sought our advice on many other homeowning &
landscaping issues, so I think he'll listen to reason -- especially if
he
gets a really good look at the branches that "bulged/split" near the
trunk.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

nospam.mindspring.com wrote in message
...
I think nature is telling us something about the Bradford Pears that
seemed
to virtualy EXPLODE from the storm. I've always known that they were
trouble; the way limbs seemed to peel off after any small storm. You
guys
are right on track when you mention planting Oaks and the like. Keep
with
the tried a true...

Scott
"ncstockguy" wrote in message
om...
Anyone see a pattern to which trees seemed to hold up the best in
the
ice storm?
Our sweetgums and long leaf pines lost a lot of branches. Am now
wondering if there are some good evergreen trees that are stronger
under the weight of ice, but still do well in our hot summer
climate?

Which trees held up the best?
 

Brad,

You may deal in "Facts," but the bottom line is that you would have to be a
fool not to think that our planet is affected by our presence...specifically
our use of fossil fuels, building of immence concrete and asphalt cities and
roads, clearing of forests at a rate of which is almost incomprehensible and
other large impacting wonders of the Human species. I myself, do not deal in
facts, but I recall watching a NOVA special about this very topic...it was
very sombering. It played both sides of the street, as they usually do, and
the data supported the fact that the climate IS changing! I think an analogy
would help here...

You have a house invested with 3.5 billion termites...the house is still
standing and appears just fine. But, wait a few years! By then it will be
too late...as it will be for us! It would be safer to err on the side of
caution, and act a little responsible for the only home we have. No, I'm not
talking about extermination, the analogy is over.

It just irks me to hear someone state that the Earth is not experienceing a
climactic change, when the facts, albeit not empiricaly known, seem to state
otherwise.

Scott


"Brad Heidinger" wrote in message
...
The very fact that so many of
these survived Hazel and Fran, plus all the smaller ice storms,
indicates it is just one more example of the changing world climate
and the more severe weather events happening lately.


What are the changing world climates? I am curious. I haven't read any
concrete evidence of any changing climates.

Maybe the hurricanes weakened the structural integrity of the trees and
the ice storm was the kicker? Ice storms are frequent in the Piedmont.
This one happened to be a more severe than others in recent years. I think
it is unfair to blame industry and fuel consumption on local climatic
events. There have been severe climatic occurrences before people
inhabited the earth. I don't think SUV owners are the culprit to an ice
storm or a hurricane. Here are a few facts:


There have been fewer hurricanes during the 20th century.

Glaciers are receding in eight mountain ranges. Advancing in three
mountain ranges.

Arctic regions are actually cooling since 1940's.

Models predict a warming of about 0.35 C per decade in the mid
troposphere. Two satellites (MSU and TOVS) and radiosondes show a cooling,
thus falsifying the IPCC models.

I don't mean to be curt, I just deal in facts. (it's my nature...get
it...nature) : )

Brad