American Chestnut huge tree, old pic

[Rob Stafari]

This is the second time in my life I've seen this. The first time was the "Dutch Elm" disease. I learned. They aren't going to get better. If you put off dropping them you end up with snags that rain headaches for years .

Story of my life right now. Theres some impressive and downright scary dead ash trees on the property I work. Place was logged in the seventies and they did a great job of spacing out a good mix of ash, walnut, shagbark hickory, sugar maple, and oak. Nice tall straight branch less sticks. I used to like morning strolls through the woods. Now it feels too much like walking through a war zone, never know when the next headache will fall. I tried to warn em but they thought the trees would turn into a woodpecker/owl condominium site. They didn't believe me when I said they'd never be beautiful old hollowed out standing trees like the old maples on the property. Nope, they just rot then randomly snap, sometimes 4 to 6 feet off the ground, sometimes 35 to 40 feet up.

 

[exSW]

Story of my life right now. Theres some impressive and downright scary dead ash trees on the property I work. Place was logged in the seventies and they did a great job of spacing out a good mix of ash, walnut, shagbark hickory, sugar maple, and oak. Nice tall straight branch less sticks. I used to like morning strolls through the woods. Now it feels too much like walking through a war zone, never know when the next headache will fall. I tried to warn em but they thought the trees would turn into a woodpecker/owl condominium site. They didn't believe me when I said they'd never be beautiful old hollowed out standing trees like the old maples on the property. Nope, they just rot then randomly snap, sometimes 4 to 6 feet off the ground, sometimes 35 to 40 feet up.

Yeah,I'm lucky most of mine were on the borders, easy to get at. Got a few exactly as you describe back in the stand. Saw one the other day,snapped off about fifteen feet up.

 

[dougie]

I had read Washington state and other parts of the PNW still had Chestnuts. That the blight didn't live well in that climate or something so trees were safe. Could be total BS, I did read it on the interwebz.

There is a wasp being released, my fear is what will it attack when the EAB is gone?

There are still large and very rare Chestnut trees in the East. One was being used to understand how it survived.

dw

Sent from the fone small keys typos likely.....

 

[Rob Stafari]

Not so lucky here, they're everywhere. And its never the ones you think are going to go first...

 

[Canadian farm boy]

Ok guys, I promised pictures so here they are.
I asked my dad about the tree and he called it a Horse chestnut. I don't know my trees really well so I assume dad is right. (Apparently there used to be a butternut tree in the yard at the farm as well but it's long gone.). Dad said he used to have people stop in to gather the nut from the chestnut. Don't know if they wanted them for decoration or if they were trying to grow more trees.
This tree is pretty big. I'd estimate it about 5ft across at the base and it probably stands about 75ft tall.
The ground around the tree is covered with husks and old nuts. You can't take a step without stepping on some. I've never seen another tree around that's the same as this tree. Maybe someone can make a positive ID??

 

[Canadian farm boy]

More pictures

 

[MustangMike]

I believe Horse Chestnut is another variety that was not impacted by the blight. Not sure if they are edible or not, but regular Chestnut is. There even used to be an Eastern Elk that ate them, but Western Elk will not survive here, they get brainworm I believe, just like the Moose that venture too far south.

 

[WOODS]

There used to be a few massive chestnut stumps on our old mountain farm outside Franklin, North Carolina. I tried to find them last year but couldn't - don't know if decay got them or my memory. I did find remnants of the old chestnut rail line fence. Thieves stole most of it about 35 years ago - a two mile foot trek in and two miles out. Just think what they could do with a honest job.

My late Dad tried unsuccessfully to grow chestnuts. They would reach a certain maturity and then the blight would kill them. Later I purchased four of the then latest hybrid. Kept two and gave him two. Mine died. Dad died before I saw where he planted his so I don't know their fate.

I am told that in the hay day of eastern forests, a squirrel could jump tree to tree from the Atlantic coast all the way to the Mississippi river and that the American Chestnut was largely responsible for this continuous canopy. I would loved to have seen them.

Ron

Pictures of chestnut fence:

 

[exSW]

That fence pic is so familiar. They used to be common here then the Martha Stewart types discovered them and they all got hauled off to the landscapers.

 

[dall]

there was a fence like that on my great aunts property and if they didnt ruin it when they logged the property should still be there it was the boundary of the pasture field and meadow 100 years ago

 

[WOODS]

exSW, can't click like to your post because it is true. I believe our thieves were caught but rails had already been sold to who know who for landscaping.

dall, I believe the only reason this one survived as long as it did was because it was the line fence between different property owners. I don't really know why the thieves didn't get this short section - I am thinking that my dad said they were caught before they got that far up the mountain.

Ron

 

[Guido Salvage]

When I still lived in Virginia, I used to do a significant amount of running in the Shenandoah National Park. There are still literally thousands of dead chestnut trees littering the ground there.

The chestnut served several purposes, they provided lumber, the nuts provided food, and the bark was used in the tanning of hides.

 

[rattler]

Dave Thanks, for posting the pic,s I remember back when I was a lot younger running up on the huge rotted out remains of these big trees my grand paw would tell the stories of how the blight killed them off. I happen to know where a bunch of Chestnut lumber sawed and plained.

 

[exSW]

. I happen to know where a bunch of Chestnut lumber sawed and plained.

I have a stick or two squirreled away.

 

[rattler]

I have a stick or two squirreled away.

It is the pretty wood for sure.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[riverrat2]

I have a stick or two squirreled away.

only problem with squirreled away stuff is your apt to forget where you buried it LOLOL, it is some beautiful wood

Going up to see BIL next month if I remember I will get some pix of the horse barn

 

[MustangMike]

I am thinking of squirreling away some Ash!

 

[huskihl]

I am thinking of squirreling away some Ash!

Better get after it. The stuff around here that's been standing dead for a year is getting punky. I dropped a 20 incher last year and the trunk broke into 3 pieces when it hit the ground

 

[MustangMike]

Still have a lot of live ones on my 50 acres upstate, but usually only take what the wind knocks down. The ones down here are generally sicker.

 

[exSW]

I think I'm to late on the ash. I spotted a couple more yesterday so maybe.