Friday, November 17, 2017

Green tree jackets

In the lower stretches of Woodhus Slough, where the trees spend the winter with their feet in icy water, they wear thick, shaggy jackets.

Good insulation!

Dressed for the winter.

Our weather is changeable, even in mid-winter. At times, after a week or so of warm, sunny days, the temperature will drop suddenly, overnight, and howling winds will drive the chill even lower. At these times, sap that has been rising in the warmed trees suddenly freezes, splitting the bark, killing saplings.

In our gardens and yards, we rush out (if we have been procrastinating, as usual) and wrap our young trees in burlap or plastic or whatever we have on hand to cut the wind. One year, I used leftover carpet cuttings. Whatever works.

In the wild, the trees are on their own. A thick lichen outfit is a lifesaver.



2 comments:

  1. That's interesting. I hadn't previously thought of lichen as a tree coat, more as a tree dweller or percher-on-er.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I gather the moss and lichen that blows down to use as insulation for the pots for outdoor perennial plants. They also cut down on weeds during the summer. - Margy

    ReplyDelete

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