Bev at Burning Silo has inspired me (and apparently a few others, too) to do some tree measuring and documentation, a fine winter task that she has set us to she has. So yesterday, between rain spats on a very warm day, I set out and eventually measured a large Black Walnut, a Water Oak, a Pignut Hickory, three American Beech, a Tulip Poplar, three Northern Red Oaks, and a couple of White Oaks. I covered about a third of the territory, and of course I chose the largest trees to measure.

Bev found quite a good site that presents a simple set of methods for measuring diameter, height, and canopy spread, and takes the pain out of the trigonometry. We talked about the possibility of using trunk diameters (DBH) to estimate age, and Bev found a site that has “growth factors” that can be applied to DBH for a few species. The growth factors range from 2 to 7.5 and indicate the number of years required to grow an inch of diameter.

Of course there are many caveats here - climate and environmental differences will affect a tree’s growth rate, and as is pointed out on that website whether the tree is “wild” or “landscaped” makes a difference too. All these trees are wild - none is in a landscaping environment. In some cases I was able to find websites that give some idea of age estimates by DBH; I’ll link to them if so.

I’m not going to present all the documentation - just a few of my favorites, so far, with a single photo. Links to other photos open in a new page.

Black Walnut - Juglans nigra This specimen sits on the knoll north of House. I’ve spent quite a bit of time freeing it from smilax and other viny growth, and it’s magnificent. It was the subject of a previous post. DBH: 38 inches Height: 76 feet Canopy: 62 feet Estimated age: 170 years It’s probably worth noting that the Georgia Champion Black Walnut has a diameter of 72 inches, nearly double ours, a height of 81 feet (not that much more), and a canopy spreading 112 feet. Maybe in another 170 years ours will be a champion!

Pignut Hickory - Carya glabra This large, treehouse-friendly specimen broods over the Fairy Ring, just south of House. DBH: 28 inches Height: 69 feet Canopy: 34 feet Estimated age: We don’t have a growth factor for pignut hickory, but if it grows about as fast as the Black Walnut above, this one would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 years. The Georgia Champion Pignut Hickory has a diameter of 67 inches, considerably more than double ours, a height of 90 feet, and a canopy spreading 125 feet. This one has a long ways to go yet, but this is one of the trees I was considering would make good treehouse material. A couple more pics here (trunk) and here (canopy).

We’re down in the hollow now, on the southern half, the upper tributaries of Sparkleberrysprings Creek. This area has a lot of American Beech, and is rather magnificent now with the turned leaves hanging on the trees, as they do throughout the winter:


A little history here: We purchased 28 acres in 1985, and it didn’t include this area, nor the southern slope extending all the way down to Goulding Creek. We purchased that in the early 90s, an additional 12 acres, that included what you see above - the beech forest, the REALLY old area. We did it specifically because it was about to be logged, and though we’d done no documentation it was clear that these were old trees in an area undisturbed for a long time.

Now that area abutts the property of some friends of ours, who simultaneously purchased their portion, but they did allow it to be logged, which made their purchase cheaper. I wonder how many 200 year old beeches and white oaks were taken down?

Onward!

American Beech- Fagus grandifolia This beech is typical of probably two dozen trees growing in this area. The trunk splits into two equal vertical trunks about eight feet from the ground. DBH: 32 inches Height: 102 feet Canopy: 60 feet Estimated age: The growth factor page doesn’t present with the growth rate of American Beech, but there is some information here. And this pdf research paper isn’t alone in indicating a great age for these beeches. It suggests that a diameter of 20 inches at the root swelling (just above the ground) indicates an age of 206 years. Our diameter of 32 inches at DBH would indicate a considerably larger diameter above the root swelling but I balk at the suggested age of 330 years. The Georgia Champion American Beech has a diameter of 41 inches, only 9 inches more than ours! It has a height of 126 feet, only 24 feet higher than ours, and a canopy spreading 76 feet, only 16 feet more than ours. We’re really close! This forest of beeches, and some of the others, suggests to me that this area has not been disturbed in a long, long time. An additional pic of the canopy (in the background)here.

White Oak - Quercus alba We’re upslope, on the southwest side, of the hollow. I’ve only begun to measure the White Oaks, and we have some very nice specimens. This one, and a number of others, grow upslope of the American Beech population. This particular oak, as you can tell from the photo, has a number of splits and a good bit of trunk deformity but it doesn’t seem to be threatening. DBH: 40 inches Height: 107 feet Canopy: 38 feet Estimated age: The growth factor page suggests a slower rate of growth, 1 inch every 5 years, and so this tree might be estimated to be 200 years old. That would be in keeping with my increasing suspicion that this area has been undisturbed for a long time. The Georgia Champion White Oak has a diameter of 76 inches, nearly double ours. It has a height of 115 feet, only 8 feet higher than ours, and a canopy spreading 129 feet, more than 3 times broader than ours. But I haven’t finished looking at all the white oaks here! A couple more pics here (other side of trunk) and here (up the tree).

Northern Red Oak - Quercus rubra The Northern Red Oaks, and we have quite a lot of them, seem happiest growing midway down the slope of the hollow, closer to the creek. This one is just above the fallen Red Oak that I posted about some time back. DBH: 31 inches Height: 97 feet Canopy: 30 feet Estimated age: The moderate growth rate of 4 years per inch diameter suggests 120 years for this tree. And, by the way, the fallen Northern Red Oak of past posts has a DBH of 26 inches, suggesting 104 years. That’s considerably younger than the 160 years I estimated using the branch analysis. It was 104 feet high when it fell. The Georgia Champion Northern Red Oak has a diameter of 65 inches, double ours. It has a height of 98 feet, only 1 foot higher than ours, and a canopy spreading 86 feet, nearly 3 times broader than ours. Again, I haven’t finished looking at all the Northern Red Oaks here! An additional pic of the canopy (background)here. It’s fairly typical of our Northern Red Oaks that they don’t have a spreading canopy.