|
|
|
diebacks in planted trees
Thursday, May 30 2002setting: five miles south of Staunton, VirginiaI've planted many hundreds of trees on my parents' farm, mostly across the road from my parents' house where farm animals can't eat them. The majority of them are White Pines on a section called Horizon Field, but I've also planted Sugar Maples, Hemlocks, Red Spruces, American Beeches, various deciduous magnolias, Alternate-leaf Dogwoods, and even a few Virginia Pines. One of the joys of coming back to my parents' farm periodically is seeing the progress made by these trees as they grow taller and thicker with each passing year.
The trees do generally grow larger, though every now and then there are dramatic setbacks. I noticed, for example, that the top third of a 25 foot tall Sugar Maple I'd planted back in the 80s is now suddenly dead. It died so recently that there are actually dead leaves clinging to the dead branches. A similar die-back has affected a much smaller Sugar Maple further up the hill. Examining at a third Sugar Maple today, I saw a massive infestation of some large species of aphid that appeared to be sucking sap from the tenderest parts of the branches. Big black ants crept among these aphids, perhaps tending them agriculturally.
In a section of Pileated Peak called "the cove" is a hemlock that I planted back in the mid-80s. It appears to have suffered the worst die-back of any of my planted trees still alive. Only about five percent of its foliage remains - a few sprigs here and there separated by long swaths of barren branches. Evidently this is the result of severe infestation from an exotic Asian insect called the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. I didn't see any evidence of infestation on this sad little tree, but I did see it on one of the hemlocks near "the Temple." Interestingly, another fairly large hemlock a few feet away has no infestation at all. Meanwhile back in Brooklyn, Gretchen has left our dog Sally in the care of Ray so he can walk her for the rest of the week. Gretchen is still incapacitated and weakened by her illness, which may or may not be mono. Suddenly, you see, her doctor is curious about an abnormal thyroid hormone level in one of her test results. Gretchen says that despite her illness she is committed to participating in an Arlington Poetry reading tomorrow. I will be meeting her there and she and I will continue back home to Brooklyn on Saturday.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?020530 feedback
previous | next |
