It's time to retire another specimen from the arboretum, again due to disease and being crowded out by the more successful. A 30-year-old black oak (Quercus velutina) was cut down this past weekend, making more room for its partner tree, a southern red oak (Quercus falcata). On the blog, we saw them first in a post from 2012, as photographed by Bonnie Bernard. Then in 2019, showing both trees healthy.
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| In our last photos before removal, we see the much thinner, leaning black oak trunk and the large, straight southern red oak trunk. Each tree has a sign near the base of the trunk, hopefully helping visitors understand that they are in fact looking at two separate trees―not a tree with two trunks. These two have served as a marvelous example of what competition can look like among trees. |
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| The black oak was intentionally planted with care in 1996. Some time later, the southern red oak volunteered in the same spot and was allowed to grow. Over the years, the red oak has squeezed (strangled?) the black oak out of this location. Earlier this year the black oak finally gave up the fight―it dropped its foliage and the trunk quickly showed signs of deterioration. |
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| On the trunk, just before its removal, we see obvious signs of decay, including bugs scurrying across the pitted, fungal bark. It could remain standing for years before falling in an ice storm or windy weather event. The major reason for removal is unsightliness, followed closely by health risks to the partner-tree. The southern red oak has grown into a very handsome tree. |
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| With the black oak trunk on the ground, we see one long straight trunk with very few branches. |
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| A small brush pile was made from the sparse branches. We broke up the trunk and removed it. Despite some rotting, especially around the bark, most of the trunk wood was solid and hard. |
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| The fall landscape is altered with the removal of the black oak. Note: it's mid-December, and some of our maples are still changing colors; the chalk maples (Acer leucoderme) on the slope are turning yellow-orange and a red maple (Acer rubrum) in the background is a bright red-orange, even on such a cloudy day. |
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| Ideally we want to remove this stump. It's like a dead tooth which provides a disease reservoir for the gums in which it sits. But this stump cannot be easily removed from the healthy trunk of the neighbor which has eclipsed and ultimately killed it. |
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| We will leave the sign in place for a little while, to remind us of the spirited competition and also to remind us to check on the decaying process. Will the southern red oak trunk grow to completely encapsulate the decaying trunk, leaving no sign of the black oak's existence? |
