What is your favorite tree and why?

[Glenn MacGrady]

Trees​

By Joyce Kilmer


I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

 

[Tryin']

The white oak. Stout, hardy, and provider of food for my favorite game species. The late falling leaves protect birds in the winter and add cover to my late season hunts. I love the shapes of the lobed leaves, and the straight grained wood makes fine furniture.

 

[Kayak_Ken]

Oak trees, have about 6 of them this size and probably a dozen the next size smaller.

 

[Alan Gage]

Eastern Cottonwood.

A native that manages to always find footholds in an environment filled with invasives. It grows fast and it grows large and it's strong, rarely breaking off branches or toppling in a storm. The leaves rustle beautifully in the slightest of breezes and turn a wonderful yellow in the fall. In late May and early June they provide the last snowfall of the season as the puffy white seeds drift down under bright blue skies.

Alan

 

[Alan Gage]

Oak trees, have about 6 of them this size and probably a dozen the next size smaller.

What kind of oaks are they?

 

[Mason]

Two favorites: whitebark pine because I love the western high country, and the sugar pine of the Sierras. For those of you unfamiliar with the sugar pines, they're the ones with the 12" + inch cones, and get huge. I had an owl observation blind in one in Yosemite that was about 8 feet dbh. My blind was situated at 100', and I was just over half way up! Wonderful tree! (That's a nesting great gray owl on top of the snag.)

 

[Boreal Birch]

I have two: The White Birch & the Tamarack.
Both are of trees of the north, beautiful, useful as firewood for warmth in the long northern winters, can be bent for sled runners & toboggans, greenwood spoon carving material. The White Birch sheds nice thin pieces of her bark for easy gathering for instant fire starter material. Thick bark for weaving into many useful articles (mats, knife sheaths, baskets, packs) sheets that were used for canoe building, that enabled exploration of many areas of North American, water proof roofing for indigenous peoples dwelling. The Tamarack for rot resistant poles, posts, & cabin logs.
Did I mention that they are both beautiful? Spring Green leaves & needles that are lovely in early spring. Dark Green that give shade in the heat of summer. Turn autumn into a Golden paradise in the fall. After they shed their gold leaves and smokey gold needles they let the low angle. feeble winter sun’s light shine into my warm cozy home in the north.
What’s not to like about Tamarack and White Birch.

 

[jdeerfoot]

Mine is the Tamarack in the fall - the last tree to retain its wonderful dull yellow foliage in an otherwise drab forest.

 

[stevet]

Live oak…elegance, strength, durability comes in second.
Redwood/sequoia tops the list as there is just no equal to the awe and feeling they inspire while standing in a grove of them.
In truth I love all trees.

 

[yknpdlr]

Black Spruce, the most common large tree seen in mass along the Yukon River and northen environs. "Heart of the northern river".
Easy to identify due to the distinctive "crow's nest" at the very tip. I like the song written and sung by Ian Tamlyn, but enjoy the rendition and video by Rodney Brown the best.

 

[Bob B.]

Wow, tough post for me. I live in the Wisconsin timber so I have many choices. I love Red Oak as it is food for the deer and turkeys, heats my house as well as belongs to many furniture and structural items in my home. Black Walnut is a cash crop here, is beautiful wood and is the core of one of my favorite longbows. Quarter sawn white oak has the most beautiful grain for amazing looking furniture, hmmm …

All this said, Sycamore and Sassafras are truly my favorite. The just remind me of being a boy and exploring the Indiana woods. Whenever I see those trees I am reminded of home and all those adventures of my youth.

 

[RickR]

I'm a tree lover and it's tough to pick a favorite, but when we're tripping northern white cedar always catch my eye. I'm amazed at the breadth of environmental conditions they thrive in, from swamps to ridges. It provides important cover and food for wildlife, especially for deer in the north. At remote deer camp we always reserve our cedar for kindling. It lights easily and burns hot and fast. The wood is rot resistant and very useful, particularly for wood canvas and cedar strip canoe construction, and wood shingle sidewall cladding in home building. When paddling down a river I love seeing blown over NWC hanging out over the water, curving upward and reaching for the sun.

 

[snapper]

Although I reserve the right to change my mind, at the moment it would probably be white cedar. I spend a lot of time at work carving spoons from cedar, I love how the grain curves and bends; making for some interesting handles. And, when I add a coat or two of walnut oil after carving the spoon, the wood's imperfections pop out, becoming their own version of eye candy. No two spoons are ever the same so it's always an adventure watching as the spoon unfolds beneath my knife blade. And, as an added bonus, all those shavings get stored in a Zip-loc for future fire starting. A true win-win.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...

be well.

snapper

 

[Woodpuppy]

Favorite? No… too many to like for various reasons. I love the bald cypress, junipers and live oaks, and a variety of native and exotic cherries. Some of the local crepe myrtles if left un-murdered are spectacular. Japanese magnolias are glorious too.

 

[Mississippi Mud]

I agree with Woodpuppy that favorites are tough to pick. As a Deep South native, I had bald cypress in the creek in front of my house. It was the first stream I paddled (in a jon boat with no motor), so cypresses would certainly make the list.

As well, tulip poplars usually grow on the first terrace up from swamps down here, and their blooms litter the gravel roads near water in springtime. They remind me of the rebirth of seasonal round, another year of paddling, and my firstborn's birthday.

So those two first on the list, bald cypress and tulip poplar, for their beauty and utility and nostalgia, but also because indigenous people of the South used them for dugout canoes.

 

[GeoBoy]

I like all trees, but have a sweet spot for a paper birch.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

That's a nesting great gray owl on top of the snag.

Man, that was hard for me to spot, and even after that still seems to disappear.

 

[Mason]

Man, that was hard for me to spot, and even after that still seems to disappear.

It's a scan of a 35mm slide, then compressed. Not much detail there.

 

[sailsman63]

Really hard to pick a single favorite for me as well. Favorite for what purpose?

• Red Oak for utility builds: Good strength:mass:volume ratios, straight grain and fairly easy to work, cheap. (It's practically a weed around here.)
• Hard Maple for glassy hard work surfaces. Butcher Block, hand plane bodies, etc. Beautiful fall color displays. (The exact colors depend on local soil chemistry and the temperature profile this season.) In spring or summer, walking into a maple grove is like walking into a cocoon of green. Very soothing.
• Cherry for handleable items. (Paddle shafts, tool handles, etc.) It has a very even, smooth grain that takes Linseed Oil or similar beautifully, wears into an awesome in-hand patina, and is soft enough to tweak easily with hand tools while being durable enough to last in use. Also can make gorgeous furniture. It's a fascinating "nurse" tree. One of the first to start filling in a gap, it provides cover to the slower growing species that come behind, but it has an upper size limit, because it will choke out it's own sunlight eventually.
• Black Walnut for striking accents and furniture. Also provides edible nuts, if you're hardy enough to crack into them.
• Shagbark hickory is striking. Hard-wearing, often used for flooring. There was a fad a while back for cabinetry as well. Very hard to work with hand tools - the grain kind of cross-braids itself. Also provides a food crop, easier to get into than the walnuts but you need to race the squirrels and some kind of inchworm to get them.
• Birch is lovely and has a wonderful smell
• Northern White Pine for bulik construction, or where you are willing to accept a little more volume for a given strength in return for ligher weight.
• Many other species for niche things, including Black Locust, Aspen, Poplar, Boxwood, Butternut, Cottonwood, both black and green ash, even Sumac (more of a tallish bush than a tree).

All of these are either native or naturalized to my area. Unfortunately, the Red Elm are pretty much gone due to Dutch Elm disease. There are some resistant variants available for the landscaping market, but I don't know if they're suitable for wild/light managed forestry. Emerald Ash Borers in the area as well, but they don't seem to be moving as fast.

 

[stevet]

This thread certainly shows the reverence man has for possibly the most useful plant! Great idea Glenn.

Shagbark hickory is striking

Reminds me of my grandmother shelling big bowls of hickory nuts to put up for winter…and then baking her hickory nut cake served with real whipped cream…oh I DO wish I could eat that one more time.
(Sorry to go off topic)