What's Wrong with the Basswood?

[Chris-PA]

Basswood came up on another thread, and got to wondering what is wrong with the ones around me (S.E. PA). I have quite a few, but none larger than about 10", and a lot of them are dying. These should become large trees - does anyone know what might be harming them?

 

[kyle1!]

Rain?

Has there been too much of it leading to a submerged root system? Just throwing out a guess.

Brian

 

[olyman]

basswood,,is what the old circus wagons were made of...tho not strong,,it would flex like mad,,and not crack or break...for firewood,,forget it..when dry, its worse than cottonwood for heat value..been there...

 

[Chris-PA]

Well it has been very wet here this year, but this is something I've been observing for several years now. So It's probably not the water.

As far as firewood, it's not dense so of course it does not have a great BTU content per log, but it burns well. I'm taking it out of my own woods, so it's all free. I burn it all. Linden burns a lot like poplar - I use them both for early season wood, sometimes for start up in the morning, and since it burns hot it is good to throw a piece in on EPA stoves to crank up a fire that's cooked off all the volatiles and isn't giving good secondary combustion.

Remember, all wood is the same BTU content per weight.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Basswood Is a Mixed Bag

Basswood (Linden) makes great carving wood but is not any better than cottonwood for burning and may be worse. It might be a little easier to split than cottonwood, and the bark is thinner, but that's about it.

What I have never understood is how slowly basswood trees grow, yet the wood, when dry, is about the same density as cottonwood or willow. Large-leaf Basswood trees seem to take forever to become green in the spring and then drop their leaves early in the fall. There are several varieties of basswood, and each one has different growing habits. Most homeowners seem to prefer the small-leaf variety that has a longer growing season but still is rather slow compared to other species.

Lindens also eventually get to be surprisingly tall.

 

[Chris-PA]

Lindens also eventually get to be surprisingly tall.

Yeah, they should - but mine are not. I'm not really concerned much in terms of firewood, just that these are native species and do not appear to be doing well, and I have not been able to find anything regarding it on web searches. These are not decorative trees, just stuff gowning in the woods around me.

 

[rob066]

Up here in Mckean Co. Some of the Basswoods are 70+ feet tall. Some are also double sticks at nearly 5 feet across the stump. They are as large as the red Oaks. Simply huge!

 

[Chris-PA]

Perhaps the issue is simply that these are slower growing trees than I expected based on their low density wood. Much of this area was logged off, so maybe given time they will get larger. Although there still seem to be a lot of dead smaller ones.

 

[WoodChuck'r]

Cottonwood and basswood don't put out much heat as already mentioned.

But that's great for early fall / late spring when it's not -5º outside and you don't wanna sweat your nuts off.

 

[Toddppm]

Perhaps the issue is simply that these are slower growing trees than I expected based on their low density wood. Much of this area was logged off, so maybe given time they will get larger. Although there still seem to be a lot of dead smaller ones.

Maybe they're getting crowded out by faster growing trees?

 

[Iska3]

Most of our older Bass Wood trees started to die off right after the Oak and the Ash. Been doing that for several years now. Never did cut any for firewood until that past year. Good enough for the warmer months in the OWB and helps clean up the woods.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Wait a Mminute...

Cottonwood and basswood don't put out much heat as already mentioned.

But that's great for early fall / late spring when it's not -5º outside and you don't wanna sweat your nuts off.

Cottonwood and basswood do put out heat, but not all night. That's what makes wood interesting. If I want to get the house warm fast, I burn cottonwood and elm first. Then I throw on the dense stuff and look for something else to keep me warm all night. Usually, she is around somewhere. :msp_rolleyes:

 

[Gark]

Japanese beetles have been ravaging the lindens here for several years. The beetles were introduced to control aphids and are flourishing wildly. They prefer the lindens over almost anything else so there's little left of the leaves but a skeleton by mid-August.