Rec climbing a HUGE elm

[Widow Shooter]

Lou and I headed to Perth to see if I could find a shirt like the one I got last week for Chip.

Beauty day, hot, windy and the Tay river was inviting.

We climbed in the same park the Ontario ISA championships were held, probably in one of the same trees

here are a few pics of the day, long ascent, but the view was worth it.


She scored a sweet purse, although I told her it could easily be a "man-satchel" It matches the 2 shirts we got there last week.

good day, good climb, even if she freaked a bit and had a bit of a panic attack...lol, it was a long out in the open ascent though

 

[Widow Shooter]

oh, and we are all in agreement, Lou needs to get more sun!!!! really though, it hurt m eyes, the glare did...

 

[stehansen]

Gulp.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Looks like a great place and a nice tree coupled with a splendid day to climb.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ya'll passed a good time, outstanding!!!

 

[stig]

Nice tree.
We don't have any big elms left. DED took them all

 

[Widow Shooter]

we have lost a ton of them too, but there are some old survivors, like this one

 

[woodworkingboy]

Nice tree. Heck of a table in the trunk too. The last supper length.

 

[Widow Shooter]

There are 2 big ones like this in the park, can you imagine trying to rip that fibrous old elm

 

[woodworkingboy]

I wonder if they were treated somehow against the disease, or just lucky so far in the particular area? I have heard of resistance in the young trees popping up, but haven't known of resistance in the older ones.

 

[stig]

Elm is not that hard to rip.
When the DED epidemy hit here, I made a lot of them into planks.
Also managed to put about 10 tons of burl aside, which are now worth a LOT of money.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Having a sawmill do the cutting would save some trouble in a valuable tree like that one. Nice flat cuts.

 

[Widow Shooter]

it is like that up here Jay, they seem to get DED around the 3"-20" size and die pretty rapidly.

But we have lots of big old ones that are somehow surviving, weird.

but then when they seem to be clear, it hits some big ones and the next season, done deal....i know, i have removed a few like that.

funny story, I deadwooded one last season, big , beautiful urban elm.

It was hit hard by the 120kmh windstorm we had in April, lost a big limb on the one side.

i have to go back and try to make it a bit more balanced somehow.

but 50 years ago, the lady who lives next door said a Dutch family moved into the house, the father gave the little kids a 50 pound box of galvanized nails, and over a few weeks, they pounded them all into the trunk of the tree ( good to know if it has to be removed someday! ) apparently this is what they did in Holland to save some of the trees.

Well, this tree is huge with no signs of DED, could be coincidence, but ya never now

 

[woodworkingboy]

Interesting. It doesn't seem out of the question that some bad ferric taste might cause the disease carrying borers to quickly move on.

 

[sotc]

It takes very few borers to transmit the fungus Jay

 

[Cobleskill]

We get some up to 2 ft dbh. Most die between 12 and 18".

 

[woodworkingboy]

I could find an article on the web about someone else using nails to prevent fungal infections in trees, a different species of tree and no understanding about how the mechanism may work.

 

[Paul B]

I have heard tell of copper nails and iron nails being used, but the nails of today, not sure if they are so pure of ingredient

 

[Mr. Sir]

I've had some old timers tell me that copper nails will kill a tree, but I've yet to see any evidence of that. On the contrary, I put about a hundred of them in the live oak in my back yard about 15 years ago and it is thriving.

 

[Paul B]

Hm, I use aluminum nails for tree tagging, I figure they are softer if anyone ever hits them with a saw.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Speaking of metals and trees.. I do find it interesting when I often find old wire and nails and whatnot in trees around here that is old as the days of the 49er and the trees are healthy and vigorous. Then I see trees looking like they are dying with newer nails and wire more recently applied.
Makes one wonder.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I believe the theory is that it's the rust from the nail that aids the tree. Perhaps with galvanized metal lesser so, or harmful.

 

[Bermy]

That's the nice thing about Tasmania, loads of big elms everywhere. No DED...yet, but elm bark borer is there already.

Our village is lined both sides of the streets with them, they were pollarded in the past as the power lives used to be on poles above them, once the lines went underground they let them grow out, probably 40/50 yrs ago or so, some of them have pretty tight unions, but by gosh they MAKE the village!

I have a lovely slice of one I took some large limbs off, fantastic 'rams horn' curl of new wood after an injury, I'll find the pic somewhere...

 

[pantheraba]

OK..sideline here. I don't know much about the elms but my grandson and I have had some good talks about the Kaimanawa Forest there. He has invented an evil demon dude whose headquarters is in the Kaimanawa on Tasmania. My grandson is 5 years old and was using Google Earth to explore and one day decided that deep in the Kaimanawa Forest is where Dr. Doom lives...along with his Tasmanian Devil pack of protectors. We've had fun with the devils and Dr. Doom since then.

 

[Bermy]

Hey, I like it...might be the next best kids book!