I am constantly updating this website. On this page you can see where to look for the latest updates.
October 2023 Another visit to my North Carolina forest in the autumn - spectacular as usual! In my Texas yard, the American Holly, Longleaf Pine, and Black Oak all died over the summer. Close calls with the White Oak, Southern Red Oak, Montezuma Cypress, and Buckley's Oak which I brought back from the brink by deep waterings. April 2023 Another visit to my North Carolina forest.
January 2023 I finally chopped down three large trees. The Shumard Oak which suddenly died in 2022 after being perfectly healthy, and the Willow Oak and Southern Magnolia BBB which had both been declining since they were planted. Soon after that I also cut down the Blackgum, Sycamore, River Birch, and Swamp Titi as they had also perished during the previous summer. Seven trees lost in 2022!
October 2022 Another visit to my North Carolina forest, this time getting my first opportunity to see it in peak autumn color!
July 2022 I returned after a two week trip abroad to find multiple dead and dying trees. The two Magnolias , the Swamp Titi, the Fringe Tree, and the River Birch are very close to dead, having lost almost all their leaves, and the Shumard Oak, which has been super healthy every year, was suddenly completely dead, full of brown leaves. No idea what happened to that one.... The Two-Wing Silverbell is also totally dead. I watered them all before I left, but it has been brutally hot and dry (104 degrees F on the day I am writing this). I don't think it was the heat that killed the Shumard Oak though as that tree never seemed to mind the heat in previous years. One of the major branches on the Holly is also completely dead for no apparent reason (leaves all turned brown), and the Red Maple continues to decline with another major branch dead... The Sycamore has also lost most of its leaves, as it normally does, but it is worse this year. It's survival of the fittest out there right now, and several of my trees are very unfit.
June 2022 Another visit to my North Carolina forest and more tree discoveries, including White Ash, Allegheny Serviceberry, and Flowering Dogwood. I purchased a third lot, bringing the total to 30 acres. Details are at my North Carolina Forest - Summer 2022page.
January 2022 I visited my North Carolina forest in mid January for three days, day two of which a winter storm dropped more than a foot of snow. I have drone pictures before and after the snow, and did a lot of exploration along the stream at the northern boundary of Lot B. Key discoveries were large Yellow Buckeye, Scarlet Oak, and Sweet Birch, and a decent sized Eastern Hemlock. Details are at my North Carolina Forest - Winter 2022 page.
October 2021 Another visit to my North Carolina forest for a couple of days in mid October. Much too early for foliage season, which was late this year, but some splashes of color from the Sourwoods, and other interesting findings. Details at my North Carolina Forest - early autumn page.
June & July 2021 I visited my North Carolina forest for a day in June, and in July I closed on the purchase of an adjacent lot, bringing the total area to ~20 acres! The new lot has a couple of big Cucumber Magnolias, at least one huge Blackgum tree, and a nice mountain stream. Details are in my North Carolina Forest - early summer page. 2021 update pictures are now available for all the trees. Unfortunately, this year it was not possible to have my picture taken next to all of them for perspective.
April 2021 Two new afflictions. The Cedar Elm has tiny maggots in pouches at the tips of the leaves, and the American Elm has a weird gall infestation on the leaves. There's always something new in the world of things that attack my trees.
March 2021 First flower on the Pawpaw, starting green and turning purple. First catkins on the Red Mulberry. Sassafras #3 seems to have died in February's freeze, but a few sprouts are emerging from the roots.
February 2021 The new female Red Mapleproduced seeds, but the big Texas freeze destroyed them. Black Locust and Sassafras #3 are also dead.
January 2021 I planted 14 cuttings from my Black Willow and 3 cuttings from my Eastern Cottonwood, near the NW fence line as a new house has been built there. The concrete pad has been built up so high my 6 ft fence is effectively only 2ft high. These two species are my fastest growing and also grow well from cuttings, so hopefully in about 2 years the neighbors at least won't be able to see into my yard while sitting on their back porch.
November 2020: One of the Sweetgum trees turned bright yellow this year (compare with vibrant orange/red/purple for the same tree in 2018). Found a Honeylocust tree and collected a few pods for planting - see Seedling Patch section.
October 2020: Purchased a new Montezuma Cypress as my original one is producing so many knees it was likely mislabeled at the tree nursery and is probably a Bald Cypress. Discovered that the Water Hickory seedlings in the Seedling Patch are likely a natural hybrid of a Water Hickory and a Pecan. Purchased a 3 gallon Winged Elm.
September 2020: I planted Sassafras #3. The third and final attempt to grow this tree.
August 2020: I got my soil analyzed in a professional lab (TAMU) - sent samples of clay about 6 inches below the surface. Chose two spots in the yard (front and back) and results came back quite similar: pH = 8, so slightly alkaline; zero nitrogen, almost zero phosphorus, and plenty of potassium. Calcium was super high, about 46X higher than the needed level in the front and 33X higher at the back. Magnesium was very high (11X higher at front, 5X higher at back). Sulfur, Iron, Manganese, and Copper were about right. Zinc and boron were a little low. Basically, the trees probably need more N and P than I am giving them. Still not sure why trees near the back tend to do better than the trees nearer the house, but perhaps that is related to the quality of the top couple of centimeters of soil, where the grass grows, rather than the deeper clay?
May 2020: Two windstorms swept through the yard and ripped off several newly formed leaves - the Green Ash was particularly hard hit. I decided to take close-up pictures of some of the fallen leaves and put them on this web-site. I used a macro-lens and took the pictures in the late afternoon sunlight - then I used Photoshop to make a uniform slightly off-white background and remove the shadows. The leaves I have done so far are Burr Oak, Shumard Oak, Nuttall Oak, Bald Cypress, Green Ash, Shagbark Hickory, Southern Red Oak, Black Willow,Cherrybark Oak,American Elm,Honeylocust,Eastern Red Cedar, Sweetgum, Darlington Oak, Mexican White Oak,Montezuma Cypress,Cedar Elm. I discovered what I thought was a Nutmeg Hickory is actually a Bitternut Hickory, evidenced by the bright yellow buds that have developed. The first thorns have appeared on an Osage Orange sprout in the Seedling Patch. By late May, the Bald Cypress is yellowing again, despite ample water and fertilizer - the root cause is identified as Bald Cypress rust mite. April 2020: Great progress in the Seedling Patch with several of the nuts, seeds, and acorns that I planted last winter sprouting. These include Osage Orange where around 100 seeds sprouted to form a thicket of seedlings, Pignut Hickory (4 seedlings), Mockernut Hickory (7 seedlings), Northern Red Oak (1 seedling), and Bitternut Hickory (1 seedling). The three smaller Common Persimmon seedlings are growing prolifically, but the larger one produced only a few weird sprouts. The two Eastern Hophornbeams, the two Pumpkin Ash, the Nutmeg Hickory, the Fringe Tree, the Durand Oak, and the two Ashleaf Maples are growing prolifically. Strange new galls growing on the Bald Cypress. March 2020: purchased and planted three new trees: a 15 gallon Laurel Oak, 15 gallon Red Maple (female), and a 45 gallon Loblolly Pine.