Sunday, October 7, 2018

Tree of the Week: Collateral Damage

The death of our old, on-site native sweetgum brought great injury to one of its neighbors, a red bay (Persea borbonia). The sweetgum's topmost limb fell on the red bay, splitting the trunk in half for a length of several feet. Because a serious injury like this is impossible to treat and will inevitably lead to rot, it was necessary to remove most of the tree. In the photo above, the red bay trunk is pictured center-left.
In March 1994, Professor Ed Leuck collected this plant from Kisatchie National Forest, nurtured it in a container for two years, and then planted it in the ground on April 15, 1996. Later, Professor Leuck added a climbing hydrangea (Decumaria barbara), courtesy of Jack Price.

Even though most of the tree was removed, we are expecting it to sprout back. The climbing hydrangea is terribly healthy and will continue to climb.