Tree Registries

Big trees are good for the planet, and for our health and wellbeing. A lot of cities, states, and nations are starting to take big trees seriously by registering and protecting them. Look at a few of the local and national registries that I found:

Registry or Site	Description
Oakland Big Tree Registry	Maintained by the City of Oakland (many cities maintain a tree registry) See the current list of Oakland’s big trees. See the Coast Redwood, and the Monterey Cypress: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/pwa/documents/webcontent/oak025516.pdf
California Register of Big Trees	Maintained by the Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute of CalPoly See the current list of California’s big trees, and search through the collection of 270 Big Tree listings and 153 National Champion listings:  https://californiabigtrees-test.calpoly.edu/
National Register of Champion Trees	See the current list of big trees found throughout the United States. For example, the champion spruce tree (Picea sitchensis) is found in Grays Harbor county, in Washington). https://www.americanforests.org/get-involved/americas-biggest-trees/champion-trees-national-register/
Archangel Ancient Tree Archive	This is both an archive of ancient tree clones, and a mission to propagate old-growth trees for reforestation. You can help. https://www.ancienttreearchive.org/
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	This is not a registry, but you can access the World Heritage List, and perform an advanced search using the theme “Forests”. Peruse the resulting sites. For example, select Madagascar, and The Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve; or the Olympic National Park in Washington statue in the United States. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list

Next time you’re in the mood for trees, whether in your local neighborhood or travelling, check out a big tree registry for a registered tree near you!

Special thanks to Barry Adams, Community Outreach Coordinator at Lawn Starter, for alerting me about outdated links. He also recommended this fascinating article, Reborn – Redwoods Cloned from Giant Stumps Live Again. The article mentions the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit organization that works to propagate the world’s most important old-growth trees before they vanish. I've added them to the list. Thank you, Barry!

--Margaret Quisenberry, 8/14/2021

Ancient Trees

Seeing all the beautiful ancient trees in Beth Moon's Ancient Trees – Portraits of Time, got me thinking about all the benefits of really old trees.

Trees provide many benefits

• Aesthetics – there is something magnificent about a tree that is really old. The gnarled branches, gigantic trunk, heaving roots, even the dead branches all tell the story of a tree. An aged tree can inspire us to persevere and adapt through the ups and downs of life.
• Sequestering carbon – scientists have found that old trees continue to sequester carbon, even as they age. Instead of slowing down, old trees continue to hold more carbon than their youthful counterparts.
• Oxygen production – trees exchange carbon monoxide for carbon dioxide, thus cleansing the air for creatures that breathe oxygen. Old trees continue to exchange oxygen.
• Wildlife habitat – as trees age they develop nooks and niches where wildlife can live, build nests, stash food, and seek shelter. An old tree supports a huge web of life.
• Genetic resilience – surviving trees have good genes. They have resisted disease, drought, infestation, and pestilence. They pass on their good genes as they produce pollen and seeds.
• Soil stabilization – their mature root systems help hold soil in place, preventing erosion. They support underground life as well –  churning and aerating the soil, providing spaces for beneficials to live.
• Real estate values – trees can add value to your property. A well-placed tree can add as much as $15,000 or more per tree. Formulas exist for determining the value of a tree, typically based on its size and health.

Roots of a thousand year old Sitka Spruce tree near Quinault, Washington

Here in the West we tend to cut down trees to clear land to build something new, but at quite a price. Luckily some cities and natures value old trees, and seek to protect them. Some landscapers, such as Thomas Church, even design their landscapes around existing trees.

Field Trip to Mount Diablo

On a beautiful fall day, my folks, husband, and I made a day trip up Mount Diablo in the Mount Diablo State Park. The mountain is 3,850 feet above sea level, and dominates the skyline from all directions.

On the way up Mount Diablo in Mount Diablo State Park

We entered near Walnut Creek, from the Ygnacio Valley and North Gate roads, through the leafy, mixed oak forest, past horse trails, and up the winding road through iconic California scenery. We shared the road with bicyclists pedaling up or whizzing down, motor cycles, joggers, and a few other cars.

Mixed oak forest at the base of Mount Diablo

We stopped periodically to look at the grand view. The skyline was a little murky with haze in the distance on the day we visited, but many San Francisco Bay Area landmarks were still recognizable. At the Diablo Valley Overlook signage helped us identify many of these landmarks from our elevated perspective.

Livermore Valley Overlook

Diablo Valley Overlook

At the top, we were treated to a 360-degree view of Northern California from the Summit Visitor Center. On a clear day, you can see the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east, the Farallon Islands to the west, and everything in between. Our view was a little hazier, but we could make out primary landmarks.

Mount Diablo Summit Visitor Center

Mount Diablo Beacon

We also enjoyed the museum housed in the Summit Building built by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) from 1933 – 1942. We learned all about the early native populations that inhabited the area for over 5,000 years, and about how Mount Diablo was important in early land surveys done of Northern California and Nevada in the 1800s.

Fantastic 360-degree view from the summit

After our adventure, we headed for Scott's Seafood in Walnut Creek for a delicious dinner, and great conversation. We definitely want to return to drink in the view, and explore the surrounding area.

Plant Propagation – Runners

Last month we switched our “Birds and Bees” series from sexual reproduction, to asexual reproduction (see Plant Propagation – Cuttings). With asexual reproduction, a new plant forms as a genetic clone of a single parent. Asexual reproduction has some advantages if sexual reproduction is impossible, or if a grower wants to propagate multiple plants with the same characteristics as the parent plant. The disadvantage is that the plants may be vulnerable to some diseases, or pests.

In this article, I’m partnering with guest bloggers Al and Bina Harris from Southeast Alaska. They are reporting on their own experiences with stolons in their summer garden. Some plants send out runners (or stolons) as an asexual means of reproduction. A runner is a stem that develops at the crown of a plan and grows horizontally from the source. New plants form at nodes on the stolon, and take root while still attached to the parent plant. Gardeners can take advantage of this tendency, and plant the nodes to grow new plants.

Ranunculus repens (Creeping Buttercup)

The common buttercup is a fixture in damp meadows and drainage ditches in Southeast Alaska. They are lovely addition to the scenery when you are out hiking. If you are a gardener though, they are not as welcome. They send out many stolons which put down a new plant at each node. For the gardener, this represents the potential of a weed at every node!

Buttercup stolon - each node is a potential weed

Fragaria spp. (Strawberry)

The strawberry plant, on the other hand, sends out many stolons, which are welcomed by gardeners. Each node represents a potential strawberry plant to add to the strawberry bed!

A productive strawberry plant to the left, sends out a stolon to the right

Nodes guided to containers in which to take root

After several days the plants are doing fine and ready to be transplanted.
The originating stolon can be severed once the starter takes root.

The new plant is already sending out its own stolon

Seven of the ten new strawberry plants produced via stolon

Good healthy root systems in the new plants (and already producing more stolon)

Special thanks to Al and Bina Harris for photographs and report. It is always interesting to share stories with gardeners in other climates!