Species in your backyard

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Rockey

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Dec 18, 2007
811
SW Ohio
Here is what I can remember thats in my stack:

Apple, Pine, Cottonwood, Poplar, Red Oak,
White oak, Maple, Eastern Red Cedar,
Western Red Cedar, Seetgum, Locust, Walnut,
Black Birch, White Birch, Ash, Mulberry, Pear
Sycamore, Hickory, Hackberry, Cherry,
Sassafrass, Hawthorn

Here is my want list:

Willow, Palm, Sequoia, Redwood
Dogwood, Buckeye, Hedge, Fir, Spruce
Elm, Ipe, Teak, and the oh so elusive Beertree
 
Growing in my yard:

Elm, white birch, silver birch, beech, ash, maple, black cherry...some others that I haven't bothered to ID yet.
 
My wood piles,
90% Black Locust and the rest is a mix of White Oak, Red Oak, Silver Maple, Red Maple, White and Yellow Birch, Elm, Boxelder, Iron Wood, Rowan, Spruce, Red Pine and White Pine.
 
This is a cool thread.

I have Maple and White Pine in the yard but the pastures are full of Pecan, Hackberry, some white oak. A few elms are still alive.

My uncle's place is a mile from here but right next to the old river channel which is now the lake. The soil and terrain is quite different and he has huge hickory, Osage orange, black locust, black jack oak, and other stuff that I have no idea what is, plus all the species I have here.

My mother's place is 11 mile away in the hills overlooking the river. That place has black locust abound that are tall and straight, we used to cut them for fence post. Also found there is Pin Oak, post oak, and some kind of oak with huge acorns that are not quite the size of golf balls but just big enough to make mowing the lawn interesting. There is also Bodark (shortened French for bow-de-ark) which was used by the natives to make bows and other weapons from. Of course there are pecan trees there also.
 
This years wood pile has: Red Oak, shagbark hickory, american elm, sugar maple, white oak, Green Ash.

Next year's pile also has a full cord and a half of mullberry, some red maple, two big shagbarks, red oak and a touch of boxelder (yuck). I also have 3 cord of standing dead red oak for next years pile that I have to attack in the next few weeks, along with 5 cord of standing hickory / red and white oak / locust that is marked and ready to cut in the local state forest...
Happy hunting

Rocky - I have all the hedge you could handle, if you really want to add to that list.
 
willisl64 said:
Rocky - I have all the hedge you could handle, if you really want to add to that list.

If that hedge is the same as what I'm thinking it is, that white sap filled yellow wood is h377 to cut. On top of that YOU would be old by the time was dry enough to burn!
 
BJ64 said:
willisl64 said:
Rocky - I have all the hedge you could handle, if you really want to add to that list.

If that hedge is the same as what I'm thinking it is, that white sap filled yellow wood is h377 to cut. On top of that YOU would be old by the time was dry enough to burn!

It's the same stuff - others call it osage orange - only thing I use it for personally is fence posts, as 6-10" posts will outlast creosote posts. There are many here that burn it exclusively though, and many cut it in the fall to burn in the winter. It throws a ton of heat but I'd hate to look down their flues.
 
My stacks are maple, red oak, red elm, and cherry. My 3 acres of woods are 99.9999999% white pine, and 6 oak trees....................
 
Our back yard has ash, maple, elm. black cherry, apple, poplar some willow and white oak saplings. Also a bunch of varieties I consider invasive species junk that I try to keep in check like box elder, mulberry, bass, ironwood, elder brush etc.
 
BJ64 said:
willisl64 said:
Rocky - I have all the hedge you could handle, if you really want to add to that list.

If that hedge is the same as what I'm thinking it is, that white sap filled yellow wood is h377 to cut. On top of that YOU would be old by the time was dry enough to burn!

I always wondered what it would be like to split osage. All the Hedge trees around here look like overgrown bushes, not much of a trunk. I would probably opt to just cut it to size with with the chainsaw and let it sit for a few years before I attempted to burn it. I would just like to fill my stove up one time on a cold winter night and see how much heat it produced and how long it lasted.
 
Okay, i'm confused... you want to know whats in the yard? or the woodpile?

YARD: Maple, Manitoba Maple, Spruce, Cedar, Oak.

WOOD PILE: Maple, Hickory, Yellow Birch, Cherry.
 
in the pile: beech, hard maple, a little yellow birch and cherry.

growing: beech, hard and soft maple, cherry, yellow birch, spruce, hemlock.
 
My most recent tally is 27 different species growing on my property (approx. 2 acres).

My stacks are a pretty good mix of hardwoods and softwoods.

Hardwoods - Box elder, Green ash, Cherry (Pin & Black), Mulberry, Poplar, Red oak, Maple (Red, Sugar & Silver), Black locust, Bradford pear and Willow (Weeping).

Softwoods - Pine (White, Red & Virginia), Norway spruce, Eastern hemlock & Eastern red cedar.
 
Well, lemme see....

Wood pile:
mostly hedge, with a bit of oak, elm (free from a friend, I wouldn't go cut the miserable stuff), and locust

Wood smoker pile:
apple, oak, pecan
(admittedly could use some more variety here)

Growing in the yard:
Locust, silver maple, red maple, mulberry, birch. Willow and poplar have all died and been removed - they've been in the wood pile in previous years.

About the hedge:

As far as cutting and splitting - yes, a lot of the trees tend to grown as twisted bush type things - especially if they have been topped to make a 'hedge row'. Though well maintained hedge rows seem to have been replaced by barbed wire many moons ago, so many of the trees are starting to grow taller and straighter. It splits pretty easy provided you have straight grain - somewhat similar to oak (which can easily be split with a 6 penny finish nail in the right conditions!), but hedge is slightly more stringy. you run into a little more trouble with twisty grain or knots. But either way, it's much easier than elm! I have never known it to take an eternally long time to dry. If I can get it cut into 22" lengths, it will dry in one good summer and be ready for the fall. Cut *and* split, it may be a little faster. It throws a few sparks when it burns and every once in a while a piece will just 'erupt' like a 4th of July fountain. I don't know that it necessarily burns 'hotter' than any other wood - probably the hottest fire I've ever had was a pile of pine 2x4's. But it does burn a lot longer and makes for a very nice bed of coals. The one thing you immediately notice is the density of the wood - even when dry. Smells very nice when it burns, too. It is a little harder to cut, but nothing too bad, plus, I figure cutting one piece of hedge is like cutting two pieces of lower btu wood, so its' worth spending a little more time on.
 
Backyard: black walnut, hackberry, honeylocust, sugarmaple, red oak, white ash, box elder.

wood pile: american & red elm, green & white ash, box elder, red & white oak, black walnut, cherry, hackberry, apple, red cedar, sugar maple.
 
I have split 6' lengths of osage for bow staves. A friend advised others on splitting a 6' long 30" diameter trunk of it- "Start with wedges and a sledge. Beat the wedges in until you pass out. When you wake up- start beating it again".

I have growing:
Red oak
White oak
White pine
hemlock
red maple
sugar maple
white ash (I think- still juvenile, so hard to tell from some other compound leaf species)
pignut hickoy
shagbark hickory
White birch
grey birch
choke cherry
american plum
beech plum
hazelnut
hop hornbeam
beech
moosewood
apple
and a few others I can't remember

In the stacks- red oak, white oak, white pine, white birch, and norway maple
 
In my stack:

Red Oak
Cherry
White Birch, and
White Pine

In my yard:

Silver Maple
Sugar Maple
Cherry
White Pine
Ash
Poplar
White Birch
Gray Birch

and probably some others I don't remember/haven't identified.
 
Yard (in order of abundance based on number of individuals, not potential cords):

Elm
Sugar Maple
White Oak
Red Oak
White Pine
Apple (wild)
Hemlock
Hickory
Quaking Aspen
Yellow Birch
Red Maple

Woodpile:

Way too many to name but mostly Sugar Maple, White Birch, and White Pine
 
Wood Pile: White Ash, Cherry, Birch, Red Oak, Elm (ugh!)
Yard: Rock Maple, Red Pine, Blue Spruce
The farm down the road is going to take a woods out for more tillable acres so hopefully will be cutting hickory, white oak and maple this winter. :cheese:
 
cherry, lots of soft maple, elm,malberry and hedge apple
 
Lots of Oaks, Maple, Loblolly and Gums make up the majority.
 
this years woodpile: ash, red oak, locust, elm, some unknown hard maple, cherry, sasafrass
next years woodpile: locust, walnut, ash & shagbark hickory coming home this weekend

growing - 1 ash, 1 blue spruce, 1 redbud (small yard)
 
Woodpiles: 95% Black Locust, the rest is Cherry and Black Walnut.

Growing: (from most prevalent to least) Black Locust, White Ash, Black Walnut, Red Elm, Red Oak, Cherry (wild), Red & Silver Maple and White Pine.

There are probably fewer than 20 each of the rest of these: Eastern Red Cedar, Spruce, White Oak, Mulberry, Quaking Aspen, Hickory, Apple (wild), Weeping Willow and Sassafras.

The few Aspen’s and Willow’s that are there, are now in serious danger since a pair of beavers moved in. I’m not sure what to make of this development. I’m not concerned about the trees but the creek is getting quite deep and the primary wood lot is on the other side. May have to build a raft and float the firewood across.

There are a couple other tree species on the farm that I never bothered to identify. I think I’ll put that on my “to do” list for this weekend.

Ron
 
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