Autumn on the Way

A Fungus Among Us

For two years, we have had no sign a fungus around our oak tree in the back yard. The fungus, which looks like a very large mushroom of some sort, first turned up in 2014.

We didn't see it last year, but recent wet weather has apparently caused the fungi to return.

One of the fungi at my foot (size 7).

I think this is called Armillaria root fungus of some kind, though a friend thinks it might be this kind of fungus: http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/trametes-gibbosa.php.

It really doesn't matter which it is; both mean the tree is stressed. There does not seem to be a cure for either kind of fungus, that I can find.

Fungi on the other side of the oak tree.

Supposedly, it can take years for the fungus to kill a tree, but sometimes it happens quickly.

I sure would hate to lose this old oak.

Moving a Tree Limb

The other night, a very large dead limb fell from one of our trees in the backyard. It landed standing up, like a tree itself, leaning against its former owner and another tree.

We could not leave it there for fear it would fall on someone's head.

So hubby brought up the backhoe.

Hubby on backhoe getting ready to attack tree limb.



He moved the backhoe bucket ever so gently, like a mother cat stroking her young.



He moved the bucket and pushes on the limb.



The limb caught on another tree, of course. So he lowered the bucket and lifted from the end of the branch.



Tada! The big branch is down on the ground, ready to be sawed up and placed on the wood pile.
 

The Last Leaves of Autumn

If you look closely, you will see that the trees are trying to bud back out - in mid-December. We've been unseasonably warm and the fauna thinks it is April. I hope the upcoming cold weather doesn't damage the trees.

Autumn Light

The slant of the sun and the lighting on the leaves makes this one of my favorite times of year. Such a contract between light and dark.

Locust Trees

The locust trees are hanging full of blossoms this year. It has been some time since I've seen the trees this full of bloom.

Shots of Spring

Redbud Tree



Forsythia



Anemone



Birch tree (?)



Dogwood

Sketch the Trees and the Daffodils

Can you remember your first connection with a tree? I can.

Image taken from Google Earth

If I'm remembering the location of my first home correctly, the tree on the right and I had an intimate relationship. When I was about three or four, I would play in the yard by the tree. The tree and I would have conversations, along with several of my imaginary friends.

One day as I played, I needed to discipline the tree. I had a little switch in my hand and was going to hit it. I looked down and saw something that terrified me so much I could scarcely move. Finally I ran into the house and stood speechless in front of my mother. I was obviously scared and she grabbed me, saying "What is it?" I could only point. She shook me once, and I sputtered, "Snake!"

Sure enough, a snake had wound itself around the base of the tree, and had been there I don't know how long before I noticed it. My mother called my father, who came home from work and dispatched the reptile. I have not been a fan of snakes since.

I have always loved trees. I love how they reach toward the heavens, their branches lifting upwards, except for willows, which bow down. I love the green leaves and how they whisper to one another when the breeze moves through. I love the play of light as the sun breaks through the leaves, the different shapes that the limbs make, the deformities that sometimes occur to make a tree unusual and photogenic. There is little not to love about a tree.

During the last 27 years, as I've watched the tree line change about me, I've noticed that in some places I see less, because the trees have grown up, and in other places I see more, because the trees were cut or have fallen down.

We have lost a good many trees to ice and wind over the last three decades. We have experienced some wicked winters. I remember one ice storm back in the 1990s where I opened a window and listened to the limbs breaking. Pop. Crack. Snap. It was a terrifying yet hypnotizing sound.

When I was in high school, I thought about becoming a Forest Service ranger. I had enough interest in the subject to consider it, and was once chosen for an internship with the agency. However, my mother would not let me go for whatever reason, and after that I lost interest.

As a newspaper reporter in a nearby county that is largely National Forest, one of my great joys was writing about the Forest Service. Prior to President George Bush's administration, I had complete access to the agency located there, and I was on speaking terms with all the rangers. The head ranger took me on many trips into the wilderness, where he showed me long-lost villages, the homes of endangered bats and mussels, and other interesting things.

I wrote numerous stories about the National Forest and what was going on there. However, my access stopped in 2001, after the new administration made changes to the Forest Service. After that, the rangers were told not to speak to reporters. I could only get my information from the PR person in Roanoke, who knew nothing about what was going on, so the stories dwindled and then eventually stopped.

Trees speak in whispers. They soak in the sun, and grow strong with enough food and water. They are still, but when they make noise, we must pay attention.

We can learn much from trees.

Losing the Blue Spruce?

I don't know if you can see it well in the picture, but our blue spruce, which we planted about 25 years ago, have acquired a disease or fungus.

The trees are about 30 feet tall and have been beautiful additions to our yard. I have enjoyed them tremendously.

We noticed they were looking puny in late winter and at first thought it was the bitter cold, but after searching the internet we determined it was probably a fungus. We bought some stuff to spray on the trees and that seemed to help, but they are looking very scraggily. I'm afraid I'm going to lose these trees. We have four of them. Two look very bad; a third appears to be infected but not as badly as the other two, and one so far, fingers crossed, seems to be okay.

I love these trees and hate to think about cutting them down, but if they die we will of course have to. And then we will want to plant something else back. I like the evergreens because they give constant shade, but I would be afraid the fungus would still be there. So I don't know. We will have to wait and see.

As with the oak tree root fungus in the previous post, this appears to be caused by last year's overly wet weather. One of the insidious results of climate change, I fear, will be the changes in the forests. Whether we take note or not, Mother Nature certainly will.

Oak Tree Root Fungus

The weather patterns we've been experiencing in the last decade are causing problems for our trees. I've mostly lost my boxwoods, and the other day I went out and found this fungus at the root of one of our oaks.

This is, I think, Armillaria root fungus of some kind(*edited to add: a friend thinks it might be this kind of fungus: http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/trametes-gibbosa.php*); there are apparently lots of varieties. The fungus is a symptom of a stressed tree. It develops under warm, moist conditions. Last year we had too much rain and now we're having too little. Obviously the trees are stressed.

There doesn't seem to be a cure for this fungus that I can find. It was huge - that's my husband's size 13 foot beside it in the first picture. He took a hoe and with his one good hand he hacked away the fungus, but I don't know if that will help anything.

It says it can take years for the fungus to kill a tree, but sometimes it happens quickly.

We are having issues with our blue spruces, too. I will write about that on Wednesday.