ACTUAL Trees in the Land of the Laurels

ACTUAL Trees in the Land of the Laurels

by | Jun 9, 2021 | Small Footprint

Dear Readers,

All of my previous tree identifying attempts were a total failure. I do apologize to my 9th grade biology teacher who attempted to grace us with his knowledge of all things Pennsylvanian trees…I have failed you.

Luckily for William and I, we had a friend of a friend of ours…who is now…and actually already was…our friend too, come out to our property to help truly identify the trees on our land. As a previous Pennsylvania State Forester, he knew what he was talking about. And he was incredibly helpful in allowing William and I to become more acquainted with our future home.

To summarize, these are the most prevalent tree species on our wee bit of 2.9 something acres of land:

Chestnut Oak~ that white oak I thought was a white oak, but then thought was a red oak…but really it’s a white oak…

Witch Hazel~ more of a shrub, really…but with tons of ancient medicinal benefits!

Sassafras~ the ones with the cool variety of leaves and lots of sass! Most of the ones we found were lil’ saplings though…they don’t seem to get enough sun to grow big and strong. An indicator for our sun exposure for our house? Hmmm…you sure can learn a lot from trees…especially the sassy ones.

Mapping Trees

Mapping Trees

by | Apr 14, 2021 | Small Footprint

Dear Readers,

I love trees. I love how tall and expansive they can grow. I love how their roots entangle and wrap and twist over just about whatever they gosh darn please. I love the feeling of their bark. I love the feeling of humility they inspire.

Trees are good. And I want to get to know every single one of them on our property. Where they are located, what kind they are, how healthy they are, how old they are…it’s just too bad I’m so awful at it.

The first area I fail at is locating them. If I can’t locate them…I can’t protect them.

William and I want to geolocate trees on our property, and then transfer their coordinates to a site plan. More specifically, we want to locate trees that are at risk of having to be removed during our build. From our anticipated driveway, to our home’s exact footprint, there are certain trees, that if possible, we want to avoid touching entirely (like this absolutely beautiful American Beech tree…and this really cool grouping of Red Oaks).