Live Oaks Are the Very Best

This is me coming to you from the hurricane ravaged City of New Orleans.
The magnificent live oaks, Quercus virginiana, came through like the champions that they are. Some were uprooted by the 20 foot tidal surge in parts of southeastern Louisiana but about 95 per cent of them held their ground in the 115+ mph winds. They are a little ragged, having lost most of their leaves and were heavily pruned by the winds, but all in all they are coming back strong. If it were not for the live oaks at the moment New Orleans would be a naked lady indeed.

Hey LOL! Welcome aboard!
It's about time you came over from the "Dark Side" to DG!
You'll find most of your old GW Tree Forum friends here, plus a lot of fine folks who were always at DG. This place is growing every day.
Guy S.

Anyone wishing to see how the live oaks in New Orleans fared can go to my photo website, for public viewing, at PBase.com

This message was edited Feb 15, 2006 10:01 AM

Hello liveoaklady! Welcome to you and about all I can say is that we are truly blessed to have someone of your caliber here with us. Thank you for joining Dave's Garden from the bottom of my heart!

I look forward to any photos you are in a position to share.

I agree with liveoaklady, the big live oaks we have here were almost untouched by hurricane Ivan in 2004. We have lots of them in the Mobile-Pensacola area . They are a little overplanted here in some locations though. So, how did the bald cypress trees hold up? They have a good reputation also.

Bald cypress held up as well as the live oaks.

Welcome to DG, Coleen.
Those are very classy phographs. I admire your perseverance in the face of an imploded community structure. It is also a reassurance to hear that Taxodium will take Hurricanes, as we experience them frequently here in Colorado.
K. James

Go here, folks:
http://www.pbase.com/septembermorn/

Someone left a message on one of my photos about an article in American Forests magazine regarding the Live Oak Society. If anyone has seen it, would you tell me what issue.
Anyone who would like a tour of the Katrina area after six months can come on down to New Orleans and I will be happy to show you what salt water did to lush gardens and trees. Ancient magnolias were totally wiped out after sitting in the stuff for over a week. The best things that survived were live oaks, camellias and crepe myrtles. Other than that, most gardens need replanting. Help.

Coleen, I'm so sorry. You pour your heart and soul out into the land.

Here's some pictures I took today of the live oaks on Government St. in Mobile,AL

Picture #2

picture#3

Thanks for those beautiful photos. The street with the canopy over it is a real beauty. The wind may have pruned the trees a little for in about two months when the new leaves come in they will be as beautiful as ever.

I've got some photos from last night. We are actively involved with both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Last year, we learned about a Troop down in New Orleans that had lost its trailer and all of the camping gear and supplies. They also lost all of the supplies they had in the Church basement where they met for weekly Troop Meetings. In addition to losing everything they owned, a restoration project they had worked very hard on was destroyed by salt waters described by liveoaklady in a previous post. People may not realize it but Scouts do an incredible amount of community service which includes road clean ups as well as removing exotic invasive species (we pull a lot of Garlic Mustard up here) and participating in restoration projects is common place.

We are a small Troop but... we are one of many Troops and Packs in this area that chose to begin fund raising to carry the Packs and Troops in the New Orleans area so that they could begin replacing their equipment and supplies so they could get back into the swing of community service.

We held a Turkey Gumbo Dinner with all proceeds going to that one Troop down south. The table coverings (donated roll paper) were stamped with fleur de lis stamps. The Turkey Gumbo was served in cups donated by Culvers. The beverages were served in cups donated by parents. Breads were donated by local bakeries. Desserts were made by parents and kids. Everything down to the turkeys and sausage (purchased by the boys using the money they raised from selling pop corn) was donated so 100% of the profits go straight to that Troop.

Here's a photo of the dining area that served almost 300 people at $5 a plate from 4pm- 7pm last night-

Overpriced Mardi Gras beads were offered and people bought them.

A donation jug was set out, and people donated-

I concur, In the midwest we used to have street canopy trees as well; our beautiful elms which are long gone now. I agree with Guy though, that if one is to plant street plantings from start, diversity should be the primary concern, in case of some tragedy taking the whole lot of one. It is tough however to pass up something that looks so awesome as these gentle giants reaching out to each other. Ken
Sorry it looks as if I am out of sequence, I am commenting on street pictures.

This message was edited Feb 27, 2006 9:16 AM

An overhead screen projector provided people who attended with visuals of the damage and wide spread flooding.

A good time was had by all and 14 little boys who did all the shopping and who worked during the week setting up and who worked on Saturday shredding cabbage and turkey and slicing sausage who came back early Saturday morning to start cooking raised over 3k and 1k of that will go directly toward restoring their restoration project.

So, my thoughts are what can those interested do to help liveoaklady?

If kids can produce these types of results, why couldn't we? Can seed be sent up our way to be germinated and sent back down to help replant gardens? Can we have some sort of a fund raiser to provide funds to purchase bare roots? I would be a proponent of doing something like this.

What a wonderful thing your Gumbo dinner was! Such generosity on the part of so many. Do you remember what troop that was? Sounds like one on Canal Boulevard (strange it should read canal, huh?)
At some of our public areas we could use seedlings like cypress trees. They will grow a lot quicker than live oaks and they will adapt quicker, also.
Sometimes it all gets so overwhelming down here that we can't see the forest for the trees--no pun intended. I cannot wait to have floors to walk on in my house. But, I also cannot wait for the first warm day when people gather in droves in New Orleans City Park Botanical Garden to see the newly planted gardens we realized with a $1 million grant from the Azby fund.
Slowly but surely we will replant. Thanks again for all the help for the Scout troop. There are hundreds of groups like that who lost everything and many of them lost their homes and everything they owned.

The two of you are two of the most amazing women I've met. I don't know how either one of you keeps up the pace you set.

Hey LOL, you GOTTA see the current issue of American Forests!

Guy S.

Not my Turkey Gumbo Dinner- their Turkey Gumbo Dinner. Parents only provide support. I can find out what the Troop number is for the boys down south easily enough. We did other things for people who lost their homes. They had semi trailers up here in the parking lots of strip malls and lists of non perishable items as well as personal hygiene products, clothing, and household goods were distributed. When a trailer filled up, off it went and in its place an empty trailer was parked. I kid you not, those trailers were filling up every week or so with everthing from diapers to brand new mattresses for beds. There are a few members here over in the Carnivorous Plants forum who went down for two week stretches to volunteer doing what ever they could do.

Really sorry you don't have any floors in your house. I can't imagine.

Cypress trees, eh. I've never grown those before but no time like the present to start. Please give me one or two on line seed sources. I'd love to grow some plants for you.

But was it Mardi Gras or Muddy Grass?













;o)

It was Mardi Gras but only if you stayed on St. Charles Avenue or in the French Quarter. 80 per cent of the City is devastated and uninhabited, still! If you watched CNN you saw the wonderful times people were having and the colorful parades. We put on a great show for the world for the past 7 days but we are so far from normal. Some days I think a lobotomy would be a blessing.
The only thing going in the way of trees right now are the live oaks which are still in leaf of course and the cypress. Otherwise, New Orleans would be a naked lady.

"Otherwise, New Orleans would be a naked lady."

.....throws beads......



This message was edited Mar 1, 2006 10:08 AM

Elbowing in here at Lauren's suggestion. I'd be happy to have a go at trying tree seedlings (or any other seedlings, for that matter)!

I'm sure we could round up a bunch of people here on DG who'd be to help.

Stacy

I can set aside space to do at least one entire tray for liveoaklady's community just like the tray I started a few days ago with Swamp Oak. I can get 13 seedlings going maybe 26 seedlings if I start 2 trays for her. I use trays and 2-liter pepsi bottles with drain holes in the bottom to start my tree seed and I'd be happy to bare root them and send them all back after they matured a little.

A southern seed source for Bald Cypress is going to be an issue though.

Here's the tray of Q. bicolor that I just started a few days ago-

I saw some Pond Cypress seeds at Sheffields. It said thier seed source was Cowetta County,GA. Thier Bald Cypress seeds come from Arkansas.

Thanks for the tip, I posted the source in the other thread where this popped up. They evidently have 3 different sources for southern bald cypress. Good job!

http://www.sheffields.com/

We, in New Orleans and the metro area, are appreciative of any help we can get. The area below New Orleans really suffered greatly. Not only did they have a tidal surge of 20 feet but an oil refinery leaked millions of gallons of oil into the flood waters. They need greening up badly.
Kevin-laugh out loud at you and the naked lady. It's "Throw me something, Mister---show me something, Sister." But, only tourists do that.

Some of my oak trees that are down from the hurricane still have a trunk about 5 ' high and are putting out new growth. They are sending up a lot of new branches but of course they are very small. Does anyone know if these will grow into a new tree or should I take tree stumps out completely? Or would it be best to allow only 2 or 3 new branches to grow?

If you have the space and you want to save them, leave them as they are. I have seen them down like that at some of the plantations and there is one in City Park on the lagoon that has been that way since Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and is still beautiful.

The main issue here is going to be decay. If you see fungi growing on the tree it will have to be removed. Is it a Live oak or Water oak? Water oaks, as well as Laurel oaks have a faster rate of decay compared to Live oak. If it is next to a building I would say to remove it and plant a new one.

With all this talk of downed trees, I'd like to share something that was sent to me.

"The Formoson termite is a subterranean termite native to East Asia. The following news release was distributed by the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center last October. With Spring around the corner, it seems like a timely article.

- - - - -

Experts Warn Against Spreading Termites After Storms
News Release Distributed 10/12/05

A scourge of New Orleans and South Louisiana could find its way to other parts of the state and country if people move wood that is infested with Formosan subterranean termites.

Experts know the termite was introduced into Ouachita Parish by being transported in infested railroad ties used for landscaping, and they suspect the pest has been introduced into countless homes through re-used architectural wood.

Because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in across South Louisiana, LSU AgCenter entomologists are warning homeowners not to remove building materials from damaged homes and install them in new structures unless they are absolutely sure no termites are in them.

The best way to gain this assurance is through fumigation or heat treating, according to Dr. Dennis Ring, an entomologist with the LSU AgCenter.

To try to prevent moving termites to other areas, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry on Oct. 3 imposed a quarantine for the Formosan subterranean termite in Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.

Ring said the quarantine has three objectives, to prevent spreading the Formosan subterranean termite to locations not currently infested, to prevent infesting existing structures that are not currently infested and to prevent infesting new and reconstructed structures.

"The Formosan subterranean termite may be spread in any infested cellulose, wood, paper or other products," Ring said. He listed railroad ties, utility poles, used structural wood, lumber, pallets, landscape timbers and similar items.

The entomologist pointed out the quarantine specifies that all architectural components, including beams, doors and salvaged wood, cannot be sold or placed in any structure in any parish until they are fumigated or treated for Formosan subterranean termites.

"Do not move cellulose from infested areas unless you are sure the material is not infested," Ring emphasized. "Everyone has a responsibility to prevent the spread of the termite."

Experts also warn about re-using wood from damaged buildings, unless you can be absolutely sure the wood is termite free.

"To determine if material is infested, make a thorough inspection, looking for termites, damaged wood, soil, mud tubes and carton nests," Ring said.

Ring said because Formosan subterranean termites build above-ground nests, wood from buildings, trees and shrubs that have been standing in floodwaters may still be infested.

In addition, lumber and other woody debris taken from damaged buildings can become termite-infested if left on the ground too long.

The entomologist said burying wood is not a good idea because that would supply food for termites, which will then seek new food sources when the buried wood is gone.

Contact: Dennis Ring at (225) 578-2180 or dring@agcenter.lsu.edu
Writer: Rick Bogren at (225) 578-5839 or rbogren@agcenter.lsu.edu "

Thanks for the post regarding Formosan Termites. Be wary of cheap mulch this year. Chippers have already been at work for quite awhile in Louisiana. There's no way agressive forest products entrepreneurs are going to be prevented from creating termite infested mulch and selling it to others beyond the borders of Louisiana. Buy your mulch from trustworthy companies from whom you have purchased in the past. Know where it came from, and make the box stores tell you. The transporting of these pests could be one of the truly great problems we gardening homeowners have experienced. Isn't mulching great? The Louisiana Ag Center site has detailed information about these destructive pests. It's worth a look.

Liveoaklady, I will try to start some Bald Cypress seeds this spring. If they do pretty good maybe I could take a drive over to LA and bring them to you. I live close to Mobile, so i'm not that far away.

I had rumors of the mulch problem. Thankfully here we have a neighbor who owns a tree service so I get good clean local mulch and a reasonable cost. That reminds me that I need to call him for more this spring for the new beds.

Ham, that's the right approach anyway. Don't pay to have mulch shipped in from out of state, using precious fuel to do so, when you can have free chips dropped off at your door by your local arborist or utility crew and save them the cost and trouble of taking up ever more scarce landfill space. If you can't use a whole truckload, collaborate with some neighbors or give some to a local school or church.

Guy S.

Thank you, Escambiaguy, that is very generous of you. Hopefully, by the time they sprout this area will look a little better and I can take you on a tour of some of our upriver plantations.

Where are we at for starting seedlings or seeds for you'all. Do I need to contact anyone yet? Oops I saw sheffield seeds. Thanks Equi. Hey LOL I was wondering do the gulls, pelicans, and other birds fight over who gets to perch where or do they just get along? I would think that the trees left are a busy place for bird watchers. Talk about a housing shortage just think about the birds.