# The tree across the street. . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245 "2012-11-07T17:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/21 "2012-11-08T06:06:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > … > > It drives me crazy when I see people doing things like planting a blue spruce right by their house or right by a walkway - you guys know this tree is going to get about 100 feet tall, with a spread of about 20 feet, right? There are tons of evergreens you could plant instead that will have a much more moderate full size - do a bit of research, would you? The people I bought my house from did that. There’s a beautiful blue spruce right at the front corner of the house. I know it’ll get way too big to be there but damn, I love that tree. It’s the best part of the whole place. When I was a kid we had several lovely trees in our yard including a marvelously large tulip poplar, a multi-trunked birch, a couple of japanese maples and two tall apple trees. My grandmother used to make the best fried apple pies for us. There was another tree of unknown variety that had the perfect bend amongst the branches to make a cozy seat and read books. There was also a convenient handhold to climb up into the tree in the shape of a sturdy metal rake head that someone had left hanging there too long and the wood had grown around it. After I went away to college my mother decided the apple trees were too big and too close to the house as well as too messy with all the rotting fruit on the ground so she had them cut down. I didn’t know about it until I came home on vacation. It was quite distressing to say the least. Storms took the top out of the tulip poplar and ice broke the maples. Worried about tree branches falling on the house or cars, my mother took out the rest of them. It was really sad, felt like a part of my childhood was just erased. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/22 "2012-11-08T07:05:44Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I’m a bit of a tree nut That explains your squirrel phobia. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/23 "2012-11-08T11:33:03Z")
I visited a friend in Georgia, another Doper. His church had just recently finished a new building. The land it was on had been part of a pecan orchard. A member of the congregation used wood from some of the trees to fashion their Communion rail at the front of the church sanctuary. Really lovely, smooth dark wood. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/24 "2012-11-08T13:48:07Z")
Maple is great for smoking. To use for woodworking it will take a long time to dry. I’d suggest squaring off some pieces with a chainsaw, leaving them outdoors, covered, for a couple of years, then bring them indoors to finish drying. If you’re just making decorative pieces that don’t have to hold their shape perfectly over time then do the work while the wood is still green. It will be much easier. ---
**Author:** ![inedible\_knapsack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/49beb7/32.png) [@inedible\_knapsack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inedible_knapsack)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/25 "2012-11-08T14:39:38Z")
Sorry, **Chefguy** , that sucks. As a certifiable treehugger, I can feel your pain. Maples are gorgeous in the fall, but they have the worst possible root systems for street plantings. They grow fast, too, so at 20 years old I’m guessing it was a good-sized tree. > [@aruvqan](#): > > My mom’s yard has one of the few remaining _american_ chestnut trees. > > neener neener neener > > 😃 :eek: Holy Moses! How old is it? Do the American Chestnut Foundation or the US Arboretum know about this? That’s a big deal! From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > The total number of chestnut trees in eastern North America was estimated at over three billion, and 25% of the trees in the Appalachian Mountains were American chestnut. The number of large surviving over 60 cm (24 in) in diameter within the tree’s former range is probably fewer than 100. My dad used to talk about the forest being full of chestnut trees when he was little (we live in the Appalachians), then they all just… died. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/26 "2012-11-08T14:40:11Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > The people I bought my house from did that. There’s a beautiful blue spruce right at the front corner of the house. I know it’ll get way too big to be there but damn, I love that tree. It’s the best part of the whole place. > > When I was a kid we had several lovely trees in our yard including a marvelously large tulip poplar, a multi-trunked birch, a couple of japanese maples and two tall apple trees. My grandmother used to make the best fried apple pies for us. There was another tree of unknown variety that had the perfect bend amongst the branches to make a cozy seat and read books. There was also a convenient handhold to climb up into the tree in the shape of a sturdy metal rake head that someone had left hanging there too long and the wood had grown around it. After I went away to college my mother decided the apple trees were too big and too close to the house as well as too messy with all the rotting fruit on the ground so she had them cut down. I didn’t know about it until I came home on vacation. It was quite distressing to say the least. Storms took the top out of the tulip poplar and ice broke the maples. Worried about tree branches falling on the house or cars, my mother took out the rest of them. It was really sad, felt like a part of my childhood was just erased. My mother took me to Portland several times to visit my grandmother when I was a child. The part of Multnomah Street where she lived was lined with huge old trees, and I have memories of playing in their shade. After we moved here, I took a drive past her old house; but of course the trees, like my grandmother and parents, are all gone. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/27 "2012-11-08T17:04:56Z")
> [@A\_Nested\_Thorn](#): > > :eek: Holy Moses! How old is it? Do the American Chestnut Foundation or the US Arboretum know about this? That’s a big deal! > > My dad used to talk about the forest being full of chestnut trees when he was little (we live in the Appalachians), then they all just… died. I would assume they do, we got 2 from the gentleman that was working with some university trying to save the genus in the US - I can’t imagine that the guy would give out trees and not make a note of where they went. Hm, I think it would have been about 1970 or 71. Unfortunately one of the pair got nailed by a drunk driver and it got the trunk split in a nonreparable way so it died. \ If I knew how to do it, I would offer dopers cuttings. If someone is near Rochester NY and knows how and when to best do it, I can definitely try to arrange a meetup at Mom’s house to spread the wealth. Spring? [I know nothing about plants, I have a black thumb, nay, a veritable black hand. I once managed to kill an air fern :smack:] ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/28 "2012-11-08T17:49:04Z")
Three years ago we were kayaking and saw a magnificent Oak tree. On the ground we found the largest acorns I had ever seen. I put a few in my boat and took them home with me. The acorns went into the freezer for a year, then I took them out and tried to germinate them. A few rotted, but two germinated. I planted one in a pot, then just as it started looking good, a chipmunk dug it out of its pot and consumed it. I planted the second in a more secure manner. It is now about a foot tall and has dropped its leaves. My plan is to transplant to a bigger pot in the spring, then in a few more years plant it in our yard, well away from the house. In fifty years or so it should look good. If I live to be 110, I’ll update this thread with a picture. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/29 "2012-11-08T17:56:58Z")
**kayaker** , I wonder if that’s a Burr Oak. Also called a Mossy Cup Oak in reference to its acorns which are very large. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > That explains your squirrel phobia. Not phobia, resolve to remove, so far with resounding success. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/30 "2012-11-08T18:39:27Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I once managed to kill an air fern :smack:] How the heck did you manage that? Egads! That’s like killing mistletoe. Were there airborne poisons involved? heh heh heh ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/31 "2012-11-08T18:55:09Z")
I have a huge maple tree in the exact location as the OP (what we call the “tree lawn”). The tree’s been there forever, and there are no problems with the roots. I’m thinking that it was planted deeper, or possibly a variety whose roots don’t go up to the surface. However I’m having problems with another maple that the next door neighbors planted about 5 years ago, about 2 feet from the property line, and it’s already pushing up my driveway. Another neighbor planted a tree about 18" from his own house. I’m waiting to see the inevitable. 😃 Why don’t people think before doing stupid things? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/32 "2012-11-08T19:25:00Z")
Our neighborhood lost two maples this year. They had been planted in raised planters about 10 or 12 feet square thirty or so years ago and were horribly root-bound. They would leaf out beautifully every spring, but the leaves would shrivel, turn brown, and fall off well before the end of summer. Very sad, but understandable. ☹ It took the tree company a full week to remove both of them. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/33 "2012-11-08T21:04:38Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > Our neighborhood lost two maples this year. They had been planted in raised planters about 10 or 12 feet square thirty or so years ago and were horribly root-bound. They would leaf out beautifully every spring, but the leaves would shrivel, turn brown, and fall off well before the end of summer. Very sad, but understandable. ☹ It took the tree company a full week to remove both of them. These guys were very efficient. In one day they not only took out the huge maple, but another tree behind the house that was just as big, and ground down both stumps. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245/34 "2012-11-08T21:19:07Z")
I think these guys took a lot of beer breaks. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-across-the-street/640245.md?page=1)