cool and/or unusual trees from connoiseurs

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Here is another favorite that I planted in our front yard, about 20 years ago.

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I don't have pictures but a tree I like is Sassafras. I took one down that was atleast 50 feet tall and dbh of 15 inches. I hated to cut it but the owner needed it gone for a garage. It was the biggest I have ever seen . The funny thing was nobody believed it was sassafras because of the size. Nothing smells like it either, they smell wonderful.
 
sassafrasssss

I have a box of sassafras root in my garden shed given to me by a friend. The largest I have seen is about half that dia. All I noticed at first was the bark, and thought it was some sort of strange pine until seeing the distinctive leaves and crushing them for the odor. There was a sort of grove of large trees, but unfortunately most where schedule to be cleared for a road in a new subdivision. When the dozers came and uprooted the trees the scent was amazing.
 
I don't have pictures but a tree I like is Sassafras. I took one down that was atleast 50 feet tall and dbh of 15 inches. I hated to cut it but the owner needed it gone for a garage. It was the biggest I have ever seen . The funny thing was nobody believed it was sassafras because of the size. Nothing smells like it either, they smell wonderful.

I removed one last year that was probably an honest 65' tall and about 24" dbh. That was the biggest I've ever seen. That thing had a huge hole up ten or fifteen feet that I couldnt see from the ground, was glad to be out of that thing - was windy as hell that day too.
 
Giant sequoia are one of my favorites for viewing.

That species grows very well in Oregon landscapes. Probably one of the best performers in the area, even though its not native to any part of this state.

The blue variety is very nice too.

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There's a very large weeping Beech tree in Limerick Maine that I know of. Always thought that was cool as heck. I also know of a dogwood that's at least 50' tall in the woods here. Huge.

WEEPING BEECH.

Weeping beech were planted around the huge estates all over Long Island back decades ago as a sign of status. They are an incredibly beautiful tree. I planted one on my old property we moved from about 9 years ago so I guess it is about 20 to 25 years old. It is huge and I pruned the interior to make a little room (space for kids to go) inside the canopy. It has purple leaves making it even more extravagant looking. That is a beautiful pict Oldtimer.

I will get one of the tree I planted in my same town sometime.
 
Giant sequoia are one of my favorites for viewing.

That species grows very well in Oregon landscapes. Probably one of the best performers in the area, even though its not native to any part of this state.

The blue variety is very nice too.

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gorgeous tree....how big does the blue variety get?
 
here is a little situation I created in my yard. I like Redbuds and a new cultivar that is weeping in form fit right in this space and I thought a standard would do well over it (purple Forest pansy cultivar) and maybe protect it from sunscald as well.
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Kate, Do you have another picture of the rustic fence on your tour page? Just got some more cedar that I'll be splitting up to build a fence with and need some ideas.

I've been trying to find a full size Higan weeping Cherry sapling to plant that's not grafted, they look awesome full size. No luck yet but I don't really have the space anyway.
Just planted a couple Paw Paws I dug up a little further south, hopefully they'll make it.
Noticed a Sassasfras sapling growing in my rock pile too, so cleaned up around it so it will straighten out.
Have transplanted a few Jap. Maples from jobs to my house recently too.
Got a couple nice Loblolly Pines I transplanted when we first moved to this house 5 years ago, easily my favorite Pine.
Don't really have an absolute favorite but trying to grow some more natives, have planted a bunch of Redbuds and Black Gum saplings in the woods, maybe half have survived so far, couldn't really water too many of them.
 
Kate, Do you have another picture of the rustic fence on your tour page? Just got some more cedar that I'll be splitting up to build a fence with and need some ideas.

I don't have any other pictures of that fence. I bought it from a local place that uses 100 year old equipment to make the split rails. The neatest part is that you don't have to sink the posts in the ground as there is a flange with rebar attached to the bottom of the end posts (the end posts look lick short ladders) and you just sink the rebar flush to the ground. Of course, it's not for livestock, but it's very quick to install.
 
Kate, Do you have another picture of the rustic fence on your tour page? Just got some more cedar that I'll be splitting up to build a fence with and need some ideas.

I've been trying to find a full size Higan weeping Cherry sapling to plant that's not grafted, they look awesome full size. No luck yet but I don't really have the space anyway.
Just planted a couple Paw Paws I dug up a little further south, hopefully they'll make it.
Noticed a Sassasfras sapling growing in my rock pile too, so cleaned up around it so it will straighten out.
Have transplanted a few Jap. Maples from jobs to my house recently too.
Got a couple nice Loblolly Pines I transplanted when we first moved to this house 5 years ago, easily my favorite Pine.
Don't really have an absolute favorite but trying to grow some more natives, have planted a bunch of Redbuds and Black Gum saplings in the woods, maybe half have survived so far, couldn't really water too many of them.

There are quite a few paw paws around here. The fruit is unusual. I have one property with some old growth sassafras trees in the 25 to 30 dbh. As mentioned earlier, they are a little shaky to climb as they are extremely brittle.

I have been planting quite a few black gums (sour gum/tupelo) on clients properties for the strikingly vivid fall fire red color. Lost a couple early on but am having more success now due to local growing I think. They will pay off big time in the fall as they will be as pretty as any flowering tree you ever saw.

I too plant trees on my property that are left overs from jobs I am doing. I planted a leyland cypress that did not fit in a hedge in this picture. They are doing very well in many screens I have put in but you have to watch for spider mites and bagworms. Also in this pict are 2 hickories (I like the natives too). The one on the right is a mockernut I bought and the other is a pignut we dug out of a client's woods while very small I have been nuturing.

Hickories are not in any nurseries around here because of the taproot being so long and they don't dig very successfully. This is why they do so well in the dry summer climate around here and droughts. I plan to draw these 2 trees together in a couple of years and make them into one canopy with an attachment of some kind just to have something different.
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I took pictures of most of the trees I have planted on my property in the 9 years I have lived here and plan to post them hoping for any insights and giving some if requested. The most recent tree I planted is this weeping willow. It was left over from our UFB's last year Fall Festival. I know it is gonna take a lot of water but I plan to make a pollard (for experiment) out of it so its requirements will be lessened.

In the background is one of the 2 mature trees I inherited which is a tuliptree. Over the years it has been through many changes. A few years ago we had 2 years of severe drought and in the middle of summer despite much watering on my part we had a chest deep pile of leaves on the road in the middle of summer (extreme June drop). Following that it had a heavy attack of ambrosia beetles that riddled the bottom with holes. I have been treating the base with a trunk soak of Onyx and it looks much better and may recover IMO.

Up against the house is one of the Bracken brown beauty magnolias I have planted. They are an evergreen that does just fine in our cold winter climate. It is the only one that works around here not freezing and I have planted probably a hundred or more for clients for screens that cover all year.
They do not shed alot unlike many other southern mags.

In the foreground is a cherry laurel hedge which is uncommon around here but I love it and have planted quite a few of them successfully.
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