I was at a garden center a while back, and my wife and I were going to
buy a tree.

"How about this spruce?" she asks. "Naw." After a lot of prodding, I
say "I prefer a yew."

When I think of spruce, I think of cheap 2x4 lumber. When I see an
arborvitae (Thuja), I think of durable, rot-resistant fencing material.
When I see a yew, I think of elvish bows. When I see a box (Buxus), I
think of hard durable tool handles. So everything other than spruce
feels a bit more noble to me.

So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. Not
that I would ever cut them up and use the lumber.

We ended up with a yew. In hindsight, I think a spruce would have been
prettier with its conical shape; my yew is just this blob right now.

Sigh.

- Daniel

Daniel wrote: So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by
the wood. Not
that I would ever cut them up and use the lumber.

Elvish bows, huh? I'm personally biased towards my walnut, of
course. Tom

"Daniel H" wrote in message
oups.com...
When I think of spruce, I think of cheap 2x4 lumber. When I see an
arborvitae (Thuja), I think of durable, rot-resistant fencing material.
When I see a yew, I think of elvish bows. When I see a box (Buxus), I
think of hard durable tool handles. So everything other than spruce
feels a bit more noble to me.

So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. Not
that I would ever cut them up and use the lumber.

We ended up with a yew. In hindsight, I think a spruce would have been
prettier with its conical shape; my yew is just this blob right now.

I wouldn't deliberately plant a spruce except for windbreak. They have to
be trimmed or they will spread like crazy, they shade out the ground
underneath and poison and podzolize it with their acid needles. Had one my
dad planted in a front yard years ago. Only thing positive to say about it
was it cut down on the lawn area I had to mow. Took the buyers of the house
three years to get grass to grow, and then only after I told them that what
they needed was lime, not acid mulch to sweeten the soil.

On 23 Jun 2005 19:13:12 -0700, "Daniel H" wrote:


When I think of spruce, I think of cheap 2x4 lumber. When I see an
arborvitae (Thuja), I think of durable, rot-resistant fencing material.
When I see a yew, I think of elvish bows. When I see a box (Buxus), I
think of hard durable tool handles. So everything other than spruce
feels a bit more noble to me.

Funny stuff! No, I try not to think of the lumber, unless the tree is
already there, and looks like it wants to be cut down, of course. I'm
planning on planting a few more in the yard, and I was leaning towards
quaking aspen or paper birch, because I like the way they look- don't
care much for the wood in either, though.

So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. Not
that I would ever cut them up and use the lumber.

I was like that for a very short time, but then I realized that while
I hate working with oak (I'm probably sort of a freak in that regard,
but I just think it's overrated) I do like the look of them when
they're still in the ground!

We ended up with a yew. In hindsight, I think a spruce would have been
prettier with its conical shape; my yew is just this blob right now.

Sigh.

- Daniel

"Daniel H" wrote in message
oups.com...
I was at a garden center a while back, and my wife and I were going to
buy a tree.

"How about this spruce?" she asks. "Naw." After a lot of prodding, I
say "I prefer a yew."

When I think of spruce, I think of cheap 2x4 lumber. When I see an
arborvitae (Thuja), I think of durable, rot-resistant fencing material.
When I see a yew, I think of elvish bows. When I see a box (Buxus), I
think of hard durable tool handles. So everything other than spruce
feels a bit more noble to me.

So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. Not
that I would ever cut them up and use the lumber.

We ended up with a yew. In hindsight, I think a spruce would have been
prettier with its conical shape; my yew is just this blob right now.

Sigh.

- Daniel

And thats what it will be for many years ,in my experience yews are very
slow growing and whats more the berries are highly toxic....mjh

Wow, I though perhaps I was alone in this mania. My family and I
recently went camping in the deep woods of Michagan, and we were
surrounded by enormous (50-100 ft) white, black, and red oaks.

These were impressive trees. Since they were in a forest they were
fairly straight, and clear to at least 20-30 ft. Firewood was
plentiful and very dry.

I couldn't help thinking at one point, just how many board feet of
really nice lumber was surrounding our cabin. Perhaps these thoughts
will pass someday, and to my credit I didn't do a Clark W. Griswold,
and haul one away on the roof of our minivan

Daniel H wrote:

....
So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. ...

No, I judge the tree for its suitability for the intended purpose, just
as I do in the selection of lumber for a project, whether construction,
tool or fine furniture.

Of course, the characteristics of the wood influence that judgement of
the suitability of a tree just as in the use of the lumber--one
shouldn't plant Bradford pears in locales subject to frequent icing in
early spring as a brain-dead example, although many do (eventually to
their subsequent regret/enlightenment).

"Daniel H" wrote in message
oups.com...
I was at a garden center a while back, and my wife and I were going to
buy a tree.

"How about this spruce?" she asks. "Naw." After a lot of prodding, I
say "I prefer a yew."

When I think of spruce, I think of cheap 2x4 lumber. When I see an
arborvitae (Thuja), I think of durable, rot-resistant fencing material.
When I see a yew, I think of elvish bows. When I see a box (Buxus), I
think of hard durable tool handles. So everything other than spruce
feels a bit more noble to me.

So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. Not
that I would ever cut them up and use the lumber.

We ended up with a yew. In hindsight, I think a spruce would have been
prettier with its conical shape; my yew is just this blob right now.

Sigh.

- Daniel

I like to choose based on the fruit and appearance.

-j

Duane Bozarth wrote:

Daniel H wrote:

...
So it ends up that my opinion of the tree is biased by the wood. ...

No, I judge the tree for its suitability for the intended purpose, just
as I do in the selection of lumber for a project, ...

I'll add that doesn't mean I don't think of trees in terms of their
usefulness as timber or fine lumber, just that I compartmentalize the
decision to the objective. I'm not much of one to envision wood spirits
and all, however (hey, I'm an engineer by training... )

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 11:16:14 -0500, Duane Bozarth wrote:
Duane Bozarth wrote:

No, I judge the tree for its suitability for the intended purpose, just
as I do in the selection of lumber for a project, ...

I'll add that doesn't mean I don't think of trees in terms of their
usefulness as timber or fine lumber, just that I compartmentalize the
decision to the objective. I'm not much of one to envision wood spirits
and all, however (hey, I'm an engineer by training... )

I have to admit that I do think of my trees as future lumber. I've got
30 acres, with 8,000 trees that I've planted over the last dozen years.
Most of what I've planted has been oak, walnut, ash, and maple. Some
spruce/pine/fir when the seedling source sent a case of those instead of
what I had asked for, and they told me to keep 'em but claim a credit.

So, yes, I'm guilty of choosing my trees based on the eventual timber
they'll become, but I spend an awful lot of time keeping things trimmed
so they'll be decent lumber, as well. Kind of a very long-term crop
that my kid may end up being the one that benefits from. In the
meantime, they're nice trees, many of them are taller than I am, and
it's really rewarding to watch a field turn into a woodlot.

Dave Hinz

Dave Hinz wrote:

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 11:16:14 -0500, Duane Bozarth wrote:
Duane Bozarth wrote:

No, I judge the tree for its suitability for the intended purpose, just
as I do in the selection of lumber for a project, ...

I'll add that doesn't mean I don't think of trees in terms of their
usefulness as timber or fine lumber, just that I compartmentalize the
decision to the objective. I'm not much of one to envision wood spirits
and all, however (hey, I'm an engineer by training... )

I have to admit that I do think of my trees as future lumber. I've got
30 acres, with 8,000 trees that I've planted over the last dozen years.
Most of what I've planted has been oak, walnut, ash, and maple. Some
spruce/pine/fir when the seedling source sent a case of those instead of
what I had asked for, and they told me to keep 'em but claim a credit.

So, yes, I'm guilty of choosing my trees based on the eventual timber
they'll become, but I spend an awful lot of time keeping things trimmed
so they'll be decent lumber, as well. Kind of a very long-term crop
that my kid may end up being the one that benefits from. In the
meantime, they're nice trees, many of them are taller than I am, and
it's really rewarding to watch a field turn into a woodlot.

Oh, most certainly, but that is timbering as opposed to a
single-specimen landscaping selection as OP noted. I'd love for the
climate here to be conducive to such a venture...I'd start in a
heartbeat, but it would simply be a case of watching seedlings succumb
to SW KS drought, heat, and wind...this is great grass country, but not
at all suitable for forestry.

"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...
I'd love for the
climate here to be conducive to such a venture...I'd start in a
heartbeat, but it would simply be a case of watching seedlings succumb
to SW KS drought, heat, and wind...this is great grass country, but not
at all suitable for forestry.

Memories!

Kid in the class ahead of me at Vance AFB had to punch out on his first T-38
solo. Managed to land in one of the three trees within miles and miles up
to and beyond the state line. Talk about your bad days!