Champions

[markyscott]

As instructive it is to study bonsai trees, nature is the best teacher. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I'm in the neighborhood, I like to visit some of our countries champions. I'm sure there are some others here who torture their children with endlessly long stops to visit trees. Here's a chance to post some pictures and to share a little bit of the story of champion trees they've visited.

 

[markyscott]

To get us started, I'd like to share the "Cemetery Oak". This monster is the largest live oak in Harris County. The trunk has a circumference of 216". It's height is 52' spreading over 123'.



It lives in Glenwood cemetery, a couple of hundred yards from Howard Hughes grave. It's reportedly not old, as far as oaks go. It's estimated to be about 130. They're not sure if it was planted or a volunteer. This tree is spectacular- I'm sure there are some lessons for us to learn as we try to build or own poor representations for our garden.

Here's a closer picture.

 

[markyscott]

I spent about an half hour with Cemetery Oak. My kids were a quivering mass of jelly by the time we left and demanded ice cream as repayment for what I put them through. But here are some other pictures to enjoy.

 

[markyscott]

The branches have grown so long that the groundskeepers have supported the limbs with steel supports. Many of the branches are covered with these beautiful ferns, giving the branches a green appearance from a distance.

 

[markyscott]

And let's take a look at the branch structure.



Note how when there is an up and down shoot, the lower branches die and the upper branches take over. As the branch extends, it gets weighed down by the weight of the extending branch and leaves and another upward facing shoot takes over. The branch forms a set of little hills. We can replicate this when we try and style our own trees.

 

[Arcto]

Ok, I'll play. This is Big Red, the Oregon Champion Ponderosa Pine. I believe about 162' tall. And that's after the original top broke out. Estimated to be 500 yrs old.

 

[Don Blackmond]

 

[Don Blackmond]

 

[markyscott]

View attachment 104997

Awesome Don. But that doesn't look like Michigan.

 

[Don Blackmond]

 

[jriddell88]

Last year at naples zoo awesome trees planted by a doctor about 80-100 years or so ago.

 

[BobbyLane]

Here's an ancient in Oak in Richmond park, London England. Estimated 750 years old...
Ive photographed this tree in winter and spring....

Richmond Park contains some of the oldest oak trees in London including, what is known as, the Royal Oak. It is a specimen thought to be around 750 years old but could be as old as 800 years old. The tree is located near the Richmond gate entrance, at the top of Richmond Hill. Although the tree has been pollarded many times over the past centuries it still has a big crown but most noticeably the trunk is massive, with a hollow at its centre which a child could fit into. The oak trees in Richmond Park were commonly pollarded and the wood from the tree was harvested and used in a variety of ways by the locals, pollarding is also seen as a way of lengthening the lifespan of a tree. The English oak tree (Quercus robur) is often viewed as a symbol of England and is the most common tree species in the UK.



IMG_8369 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8348 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8355 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8364 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8360 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8376 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

In leaf
IMG_9602 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[markyscott]

Here's an ancient in Oak in Richmond park, London England. Estimated 750 years old...
Ive photographed this tree in winter and spring....

Richmond Park contains some of the oldest oak trees in London including, what is known as, the Royal Oak. It is a specimen thought to be around 750 years old but could be as old as 800 years old. The tree is located near the Richmond gate entrance, at the top of Richmond Hill. Although the tree has been pollarded many times over the past centuries it still has a big crown but most noticeably the trunk is massive, with a hollow at its centre which a child could fit into. The oak trees in Richmond Park were commonly pollarded and the wood from the tree was harvested and used in a variety of ways by the locals, pollarding is also seen as a way of lengthening the lifespan of a tree. The English oak tree (Quercus robur) is often viewed as a symbol of England and is the most common tree species in the UK.



IMG_8369 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8348 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8355 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8364 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8360 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8376 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

In leaf
IMG_9602 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

BobbyLane - that is a really cool oak tree. Next time I'm in London I'll have to make it to Richmond Park. Looks like they've changed the fence on it a couple of times. Is it common practice to pollard oak trees in England?

 

[BobbyLane]

BobbyLane - that is a really cool oak tree. Next time I'm in London I'll have to make it to Richmond Park. Looks like they've changed the fence on it a couple of times. Is it common practice to pollard oak trees in England?

Hi Marky, Yes the fence as been changed in the last few months, so i was able to climb in on my last visit and take some closeups
IMG_9609 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_9621 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_9610 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_9612 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Pollarding was more common then than now...

It has been common in Europe since medieval times and is practised today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined height

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding

 

[markyscott]

A place in the US to go to see champions is Lake Quinault in southwestern Washington. I've spent a great deal of time in the Olympic Mountains and it's one of my favorite spots on the planet. I once hiked from Hurricane Ridge on the north side of the Olympics up and over Mt. Olympus and out the Quinault valley. It is a spectacularly beautiful descent from the active glaciers near the headwaters of the main western drainages in the Olympics and out the temperate rainforest valleys of the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault. The lodge on Lake Quinault is one of the old historic lodges of the Pacific NW - it's reasonably priced because it's so out of the way, but a fantastic place to stay. I can't wait to go back.

Here's the lodge.


There are a bunch of champions there. One of them is the champion Sitka Spruce.


This is a massive spruce - here's the information sign:

 

[bilbocannon]

 

[markyscott]

Here's a few more pictures of this great tree. Me and the family have been bonsaied.


Here's a really cool few up the trunk - look at all of those jined branches.

 

[markyscott]

View attachment 105037 View attachment 105042 View attachment 105044 View attachment 105045

Nice bilbocannon - can you tell us something about those trees?

 

[bilbocannon]

Nice bilbocannon - can you tell us something about those trees?

They are in the nightcap national park Australia. I believe the 1st tree is a strangler fig. Pictures just do not do it justice. It was the largest tree i have probably seen, it had such a presence. The other tree is another monster that as you can see has survived a bushfire, not sure what type it is.

 

[markyscott]

They are in the nightcap national park Australia. I believe the 1st tree is a strangler fig. Pictures just do not do it justice. It was the largest tree i have probably seen, it had such a presence. The other tree is another monster that as you can see has survived a bushfire, not sure what type it is.

Near Brisbane right? Those are fantastic trees. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the strangler fig is a wonder. It takes root in the branches and drops aerial roots along the trunk of a host tree, eventually enveloping it. The host tree can die and rot away leaving the hollow fig go wing in its place. I think there are a number of species that have this habit.