Tree Park

Nov 5, 2009 by Naomi.

A walk through Whatcom Park which exists behind the bed and breakfast where I am currently residing is an arboretum of sorts, albeit a tree study without requisite labels and or other descriptive information. The differences, however, are stark and notable. Many of the deciduous trees are bare of leaves, or nearly so. The trunks and limb configurations are a study of plants reaching for maximum sun exposure. Where possible according to their species, they rise higher and higher or wider and wider to achieve that goal.

Some species I can identify by the bark, the striation of it or the blotches. In one stand the grays varied in intensity with an overall pattern of camouflage. What were they hiding from? Interesting. As if they had anthropogenic tendencies. Animals use camouflage to protect themselves, why not trees? In trees, however, the group did not fade into anonymity, it became more noticeable because of the numbers. More likely the grove occurred because the seeds were more prolific in that small area. Any seeds taken away by the wind or birds or other animals would likely come up as isolated individuals that may or may not propagate a grove in due course.

I recognized a balsam tree, one loan sentinel, with other shorter specimens of widespread branched kinds clustered around it. One group of bare deciduous specimens had thin limbs that went upward at forty-five degree angles from the trunk, making a tree pointy like a pencil tip. Some evergreen trees are that shape but the variety of shapes is inherent in the species. Limbs that reach out in a droopy fashion are graceful recipients of holiday ornamentation. The greatest difference among evergreens is between spruce and pine. Spruce leaves are needle-like but short, perhaps an inch or less. Pine leaves are needle-like but are longer, from the two-inch ones on the ornamental Mugho Pine to the six inchers on the mighty Ponderosa, with the needle length of other species falling somewhere between those two.

Trees may not be the most revered item of the plant kingdom but they are planted around new homes and other buildings for shade as well as beauty in the landscape. They vary in speed of growth and longevity. Often young trees are planted without consideration of the space they will need when full grown and make a mess of sidewalks and foundations. Topping trees or removal becomes difficult if the branches are close to electric wires or buildings.

I lived with trees all my life. One memorable scene I remember involved a man sitting on a large limb trying to saw it off between himself and the trunk. I think his neighbor suggested he get down and use a ladder before he absolutely ruined his own skeleton during improper limb removal.

I like trees. There was a delightful silver maple tree in the yard of one place I lived. Not only was it a lovely ornamental but its limbs were properly placed for climbing. Another type of tree had sturdy limbs high above that took kindly to ropes for a swing. Others furnished shade for relief from the hot Minnesota summer sun. Some in California are hundreds of feet tall as well as hundreds of years old. Not all trees are lucky. Sometimes lightening strikes and shred the trunks. Some are attacked by insects or chopped with blaze marks of hatchets. Many of the trees in one area of Whatcom Park went up in smoke when a gas line leak exploded about ten years past. Nature has greened over most of that disaster and Whatcom Park is a year-round study of plants that do well in a forever damp and rainy place.

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